Essential Elements
by dancin4duo
Summary: Yaoi. An innocent camping trip for the G boys evolves into them being flung into another dimesion and granted unique powers. Rated for Duo's mouth and thoughts, also for language, adult situations, future limes. Duo's POV, rating subject to change
1. Over the River and Through the Cave

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5xS (waaaay later in the story)

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the G-boys, a fact that makes me cry to this day. I do, however, own everyone in this fic who's not in GW. Go me!

**Chapter 1: Over the River and Through the Cave**

"MAXWELL!"

Yup, that's me! Maxwell's the name, killing's the game. …Err, well, it _was_ the game, 'til the war ended. After two-and-a half years of trying to "attain peace," having spent the majority of our youth fighting and killing people and blowing shit up, we Gundam boys could finally enjoy what was left of our adolescence. Notice, I said adolescence.

I don't call it a childhood anymore.

Yes, we won, Relena Peacecraft was Queen of The World, or whatever the hell it was that she was titled, everybody loved everybody else (yeah, right), and so-on and so-forth, yadda, yadda, yadda, blah, blah, blah.

Tch, whatever.

Well, like I said before, the five of us were congratulated, thanked, and then more or less left to our own devices. We all decided to go our separate ways, and for a while, it wasn't so bad. I mean, the government compensated us pretty nicely, so we didn't have to work or anything. But, despite that, we noticed that something seemed to be missing.

Trowa tried returning to the circus, in an attempt to fill the void in his life with seriously dangerous, totally cool, death-defying, kick-ass stunts. Quatre went back to one too-big mansion or another, managed WEI and used his zillions of dollars as bathwater. Wufei and Heero went to work for the Preventers and I opened up a new salvage yard on Earth, with Hilde.

Yeah, life wasn't so bad. …Except something in the back of our minds gnawed at us. Something was missing. Something, something, something….

We kinda figured out what that something was when we noticed we were getting a little too excited when we heard from one of the others. …Well, Quat and I admitted we got excited, though I've got a sneaking suspicion that Wufei might have been happier than he let on. And I _know_ Trowa loved getting stuff from _Quatre_. Man, they're both so stupid. They pretend they don't realize that they were made for each other, and they don't know that I, The Great Shinigami, know and see all.

…And maybe I've read a few select pages of Quat's diary…. That dirty little closet-pervert….

Oh, yeah. You. Sorry for getting distracted, I have a tendency to do that, Heero tells me.

Mmmm… Heero…. ….

See what I mean?

Anyway, as I was saying, we figured out that, despite the fact that, we weren't in a constant combat situation anymore, we still needed each other. We needed someone to talk to when we were down, someone who wouldn't judge us for what we were, what we'd been. Needed someone to comfort us after we woke up, drenched in sweat and screaming from some nightmare or another. We needed someone we could trust with our dirty secrets, our tainted souls. (Yeah, that sounds cheesy coming from me, but it was true.) There was nobody we could really turn to when the really hard times came around. I mean, don't get me wrong, Hilde was a great friend, but since she started seeing Whatshisfuck she'd been so happy, and I got tired of upsetting her with my problems all the time. Just because my life sucked didn't mean I had to drag her down with me, did it? No, of course not.

So, after Quatre and I diagnosed the problem, we started having weekly get-togethers. In the very beginning, it was just the two of us, really, since the others were either socially retarded (Heero) or sociopathic (Heero and Trowa) or they were Wufei. We'd go clubbing or partying, and we had a blast, but we really wanted it to be everyone.

And what the two of us wanted, the two of us got.

Gradually, the others allowed us to coerce them into joining our little outings. Each week, we took turns deciding what we were going to do. So far, we've done everything from sitting at the park and meditating on "the meaning of life and our existence" (Wufei, duh!), to rappelling (Trowa), to sky diving (Heero) to playing in the rain (which was a helluva lot more fun than I thought it would be) (Quat), to spelunking (I rock).

This weekend marked the ten-week anniversary of our doing stuff together and Wufei chose to go on a three-day camping trip. He told us he knew some awesome, secluded forest area that stretched for miles and was great for meditating and cleansing the spirit and finding your balance and all that jazz. So, we all packed, met up at Q's house (estate, mansion, palace, whatever you want to call it), and hit the road.

Six hours later, we were out looking for the field Wufei claimed to have been in when he'd come before. Only problem was that 'Fei had the directional common sense of a lemming.

**:ooooo:**

"Damn it, guys!" I growled, pointing downward accusatorily. "I _know_ I've passed this rock before, I fucking remember it! I'm tellin' ya we're goin' in circles!" A chorus of sighs met this statement.

That's me, baby: Duo Maxwell, Mr. Exasperating at your service!

"Maxwell, be quiet! For the last time, we are not lost. Had I known you were going to be this childish about this, I wouldn't have invited you." I sighed, and turned to him.

"You know, what, Wu? You're awfully mean to me sometimes. I thought we were pals, Fuffles. Why is it, that you constantly chip away the delicate edges of our porcelain friendship, saw at the fraying rope of our trust, weather the boulder of our insubstantial-"

"Maxwell, first of all, my name is Wufei. Wu. Fei. Not Wu, not Fuffles, not 'Fei-Fei, not Wuffie. Wufei. Secondly, shut up. Some of us are trying to actually get to the campsite before nightfall. Your incessant babbling is not only distracting, but-"

"What, unjust?" I supplied helpfully. He scowled and I waved dismissively at him. "Shove it, Wu-bear. _First of all, _the real problem here's the fact that you couldn't give someone directions out of an open cardboard box. Second, I'll stop givin' you nicknames when you start calling me Duo. Third, I'm hungry. And tired. And I gotta pee. Can we stop and take a break now? Pretty please? Thanks to Captain Directionally Challenged, we've been walkin' for hours. Break? Please?" I looked around at my walking companions with puppy dog eyes, cause I really wanted to stop and rest-

"Duo, let's just keep going until we find a good spot, and set up camp early." I sent Quatre a look that all but screamed "Traitor!" and he winced, smiling sheepishly. "Come on, Duo, I can see a nice spot from here. It shouldn't be that far a walk at all, a mile at the most." Rolling my eyes, I stomped past him, trying to ignore my floating eyeballs.

"Fine, yeah, okay, we'll keep goin', but when my bladder explodes, and my spleen ruptures, and I die a slow, painful death by internal bleeding, I hope everyone will kindly remember who it was that killed me," I grumbled. Trowa chuckled from somewhere behind us.

"Drama queen," Quatre muttered.

"Bitch," I shot back. I immediately regretted the comment; Quatre huffed indignantly, and chased me, with murder in his eyes.

I ran for my life, and needless to say, the two of us reached the designated campsite in record time, winded and drained. With one last enraged cry, he launched himself at me and effectively bowled me over.

As we lay panting and laughing on the leaf-strewn forest floor, waiting for the others, I felt a twinge in my belly and realized something rather important.

"Hey, Quat?" I called over my shoulder. He rolled over, brows knitted, probably concerned about my suddenly serious tone.

"Duo? What is it?" I rolled over, too, to face him.

"Uh… Quat, do… do you know if, uh…." My friend smiled.

"Duo, you know you can ask me anything. What's bothering you?" I shook my head.

"It's nothin' like that, Q-man, it's just that… well, I was wonderin' if you maybe brought any toilet paper?" Blank stare. "I think those chicken nuggets I had are at war with my colon, and my colon's losing." Another twinge. "_Bad_."

Quatre continued to stare at me and I became more and more aware of the growing unease in my stomach. Damn stupid appealing-looking fast-food signs! As Quatre watched the apparently amusing discomfort play out across my face, the corners of his perfect Cupid's bow mouth began twitching. Then, he grinned. The grin quickly progressed to laughter, and within seconds, the two of us were at it again, cracking up, rolling around in the dirt and fallen foliage.

"You know, I really think we need to run an intervention here, Yuy. Both of them need to lay off the caffeine." Heero snorted agreement at the comment and I lifted my head to see the amused glitter in Trowa's bottle-green eyes. …Err, well, that bottle green eye. Man, his hair was crazy. Even after four years, his bangs still managed to do that weird, gravity-defying thing. Nope, nothing different there.

Truth was, none of us had changed all that much. Trowa was still the tallest at 6'2, and had gained as much muscle as height. It was discovered that Trowa, or Triton, if you want to go by his "real" name (which I don't, because, let's face it, it sucks), is also the oldest of us, at 20. And though he was still more or less the strong, silent type, he'd opened up much more, relying less and less on ellipses language.

Especially when the topic of conversation was a certain blue-eyed blond trillionaire.

Then, there's Wuffie. I watched him begin to unpack all the essential camping crap, noting that, nope, he hadn't changed very much either. At 19, he was still the same old Wufei, hair pulled back into that tight ponytail, though I'd managed to convince him to let his hair grow out a little, and those white Chinese pants-things. Yep, he was still the judge, and the jury. Still snapped at every little thing, still spurted copious amounts of blood if you said the word 'cock' with the right inflection in your voice… Had to remember to do that soon….

Q was the littlest, and the sweetest and the nicest and the youngest (I had him beat by a couple of months), but he'd lost a lot of his "cute little boy" appearance. At some point in time, he'd taken to dyeing his hair, and at the moment, it was tipped with a pretty silvery blue, but that'd probably change within the next few days. He also got both ears pierced and a really cool Arab-inspired design tattooed on his right hipbone.

Ah, kids and their impulses.

Of course, an ear piercing, a tongue stud, and a tattoo later, I couldn't say much of anything about Q's impulses, seeing as how I was the one to suggest them, but, I was pretty much the same, too. I grew a bit, though not as much as I would have liked, (and dammit, I blame you, stupid malnourished childhood, for getting in the way of my development). My hair had grown longer and now I have to move it out of the way if I don't want to end up sitting on it. I was still the jester, the wild child, the unpredictable one; I could be Shinigami when the occasion called for it. I was still the same loveable Duo, everybody's favorite.

So maybe I'm overconfident, sue me.

Last but _certainly _not least, there was my personal favorite Gundam boy. Heero had filled out, and before you start in on me, I am fully aware that's usually a phrase used to describe girls, but that's the only thing I can think of. Like Trowa, he'd gotten more muscular. Sexier. Like Trowa, he was 20; he was taller, leaner and more sinuous. His hair still had that oh-so-sexy tousled look that screamed "come-fuck-me-back-into-the-bed-I-just-crawled-out-of-Duo-Maxwell." Damn sexy bastard. I think out of all of us, Heero changed the most. He'd allowed me and Quat to bully him into letting his hair grow out some (and it was better than ever!), and had opened up, talking, laughing, and joking with the rest of us (his smile just kills me!). He lets me flirt with him, an allowance I take full advantage of every chance I get, and never seems to be bothered by it. (Score one for Shinigami!) In fact, I was pretty sure he liked me back, (I am, after all, irresistible) but I wasn't 100 percent positive he really _wanted_ me. He was still really good at being silent and mysterious.

Which, to me, only served to make him even more dead sexy.

And that dead sexiness was one of the reasons I was staring so very intently at that scrumptiously hot, deliciously firm ass of his as he helped Wufei and Trowa pitch the tent, the three of them bitching and moaning how tired they were.

Pansies.

I let my mind wander back to Heero, imagining all the things I could do to that magnificent rear-end… and the things I'd let him do to mine….

"DUO!" I was snapped out of my reverie by a sharp voice.

"Huh?" I answered stupidly. I turned, only to see the others staring at me. I realized that Quatre had been calling me for a while, and had probably been watching me the whole time, with that stupid knowing smirk on his face. Grinning even wider, he held up a roll of toilet paper.

"Still need your bathroom break, Duo?" His voice was way too sweet. Damned stupid empath. Growling, embarrassed, I stormed over to him, snatched the toilet paper out of his hands and made my way to the bathr… woods.

A few trees over, well out of the way of our campsite, I finished my business, only to hear an out-of-place rustle in the bushes behind me. Tensed and ready to spring, I waited for any form of attack. (Oh, shut up, you try being an ex-"terrorist" and see how relaxed you are when you hear an out-of-place rustle while you're completely vulnerable!)

"Done yet?" Quatre's perfect blond head popped up and I sighed in relief.

I brandished the toilet paper mock-threateningly. "Don't I look done to you, Winner?" Quatre grinned and raised his hands placatingly.

"Hey, hey, hey, I didn't mean anything by it. I was just going to suggest that, if you're done, maybe we can look around the forest, see what's around our campsite… talk about this Japanese ex-Gundam pilot I met the other day, with the most amazing blue eyes…." He batted his eyelashes at me and I smiled. This was an old game. I winked back, turning as I did so.

"Oh, I dunno," I started coyly, heading back towards the camp. Damn, I was hungry again! "I was thinking more along the lines of a certain green-eyed circus acrobat. You know, I've heard he can bend his body in all sorts of _fascinating_ ways…." Q got a kick out of that, and the two of us joked all the way back to the site.

Did I ever mention that Quatre was my best friend? Well, he was. I mean, it's not like I wasn't close to the others, 'cause sharing a bed with a guy will do that to ya. But me and Quat just fit, you know? We did everything together: went shopping, talked about food, guys, politics, guys, movies, money (or frequent lack thereof, in my case), clothes, guys. Guys. Men.

Did I mention we were gay?

Not that you couldn't tell, seeing as how we were crushing on Tro and Heero, but yeah. We kind of figured it out together. And not like that, you perverts! I could never see Q as a potential boyfriend. (Not to say that I don't find him attractive, 'cause he is. With that immaculate blond hair and those aquamarine eyes, Q's pretty damn pretty. But we're way too much alike, and too close as friends to be ever be compatible in _that_ way. That and the fact that I'd want my man to totally _own_ my wild ass, and I just couldn't imagine Q dominating me. …Or Q dominating anyone, for that matter…. And yes, I did just go off on an irrelevant tangent. Bite me.) We simply discovered that we were attracted to a beautiful, well-built male body together.

So, we talked about guys (coughHeeroandTrowacoughcough) relatively often. And we'd talk about how we were going to go about seducing said men fairly frequently as well. Too bad neither of us had the balls to go about our plans the way we describe to each other that we will, huh? Ah, well, it was fun just thinking up strategies.

As we approached the camp, I was treated with another astral view of Heero's delectable ass, as he was bent over, arranging logs for the fire. Dear God, he was gorgeous, those shorts (no, not spandex… unfortunately…) clinging to every curve of his lovely backside, those long, muscular, sun-bronzed legs, taunting me, teasing me, just begging me to-

"Dammit Duo, I'm talking to you!"

Whoops, foiled again! I scuttled over to Quat where he was standing with his hands on his hips, near the food. Mmmm. I'd _love_ a Heero sandwich….

**:ooooo:**

"So, I take it you still haven't found the nerve to tell Tro you're hot for him, eh?" He kicked a few leaves at me as we walked farther and farther from the campsite, enjoying each other's company and taking in the sights around us.

And bitching about life. Our usual.

"Oh, hush! I'm not as rash as you, you maniac, I'm not just going to out myself to him like that, we've been over this. Besides, I really _don't_ think Trowa's gay, Duo." I growled. I hate repeating myself!

"We've been over that, too, dumbshit! I tol'ja, I've seen the way he stares at you, Q. Like he's… you, how you look at food while you're fasting during your religious whatever, and there you are, a deli select sandwich with all his favorite stuff on it. Or like you're a big, juicy, well-marinated steak and he's a starving dog. Like a hungry fat man at a buffet. Like-"

"You're still hungry aren't you?" I grinned.

"Like he's a sex-addict and you're a cheap, horny hooker." Quatre rolled his eyes, but smirked widely.

"You are so crude, Duo." I stuck my pierced tongue out at him.

"Yeah, you love me. Besides, I call 'em like I see 'em. I am telling you, Quat, just throw yourself on him and kiss him senseless, and you'll be all set. He wants you, Q, believe me. He. Wants. You." I punctuated each word of the last sentence with a playful punch to Quat's arm. He sighed, rubbing the offending limb ruefully.

"I dunno…." Waving my hand in disgusted dismissal, I turned to take in the sights

To say that the forest was beautiful would have been an understatement. Almost everything that wasn't brown was a crazy-bright shade of GREEN. One of those greens that made your eyes water, you know? Cutting through all the GREEN was a small stream, with water so clear you could see every rock and pebble at the bottom of it. I sighed, loving how gorgeous everything was. I glanced up at the sky to see that it was the most exquisite shade of blue that I had ever seen, the little Stay-Puff Marshmallow clouds lazily floating around, as if they didn't have a care in the world. …Oh. Right. They didn't. (Sorry, I had a blond moment.)

I looked back towards the ground at all the GREEN-ery, loving the way that the plants on the forest floor created a mosaic, the GREENs mixing with the BROWNs and the REDs and the-

"Oh, Duo, look!" Dammit! Why was it that MY reflections were always the ones that got interrupted! I turned, with every intention of glaring at the blond for disrupting my thoughts, but as I glanced in the direction he was pointing in, I kinda forgot that I had been thinking anything at all.

There, in the middle of a clearing, branching off from the brook we'd been walking beside, was a beautiful mineral spring. I gawked as I took in the view, noting that it was very big. Very, very big. I remembered the others' complaining from earlier. Oh, yes, plenty big enough for five ex-Gundam pilots to relax in, with room left over. We could relax and enjoy one another's company.

Hmmmm…. Maybe I could spend some time watching the play of muscle under skin of a certain messy-haired… ooohhhh, yeeesss….

I turned quickly to my friend, "Hey buddy. Whaddya say we gather the troops for a dip in the spring?" I was hoping he had been thinking what I had been thinking.

He had been.

**:ooooo:**

"C'mon guys, _please_? It'll be really fun! You can relax your muscles, take a nice, hot soak, and, oh, it'll be great, please? Please, pleasepleaseplease_please_?" I looked around, eyes pleading.

Then, I remembered the outcome of the last time I tried the pleading thing (_that _ended with me running a mile and Quatre tackling me into the ground) and reevaluated my strategy.

Make way for Duo the Dictator!

Glowering, I stomped my foot. "Dammit, guys, get off yer asses and go change! We leave in ten minutes." Ignoring the perplexed stares of my friends, I turned on my heel, went to my tent, and began riffling through my duffle bag for something suitable to swim in.

"No, really Heero," I heard Trowa stage whisper. "If it's going to contribute to his schizophrenia, no more caffeine for Duo."

Precisely ten minutes later, the five of us were standing trunks-clad around the campsite with our towels, getting ready to leave. Wufei began putting out the fire as "it would be unjust to risk setting a blaze in a place of such concentrated tranquility," while I took the time to ogle Heero's righteous bod: those washboard abs, those delectable pecs, those perky nipples that were just waiting for the right mouth (mine, duh), those wonderfully powerful arms….

"Duo, you're drooling," Quatre whispered into my ear, grinning. Pulling out of my dirty mindset, I refocused. "Right then," Q announced loudly. "Are we ready?"

"Where exactly is this hot spring, Quatre?" My toes curled as I heard Heero's strong voice, and I struggled not to begin thinking lecherous thoughts with him so close to me, 'cause my swim trunks weren't very thick.

"Not far at all, maybe a thirty-minute walk, that's it." Trowa eyed me skeptically.

What did _I_ do?

"What happened to you being exhausted, Duo? I distinctly remember you asking one of us to carry you ten minutes after we parked the cars, because you didn't feel like walking anymore. And now, you're begging us to hike thirty minutes into the forest? A trip you've already taken twice?" His voice was dubious.

Wufei smirked broadly, "What happened to your endurance, Maxwell, your stamina? Are you out of shape so soon? And you call yourself a Gundam pilot. Pathetic." I growled at him, preparing to hurl back a biting, witty comeback concerning his dismal sense of direction. But before I could get it out-

"You know, Duo, Wufei has a point." Heero! And here I thought I was in love with you! He turned, smirking, laughter in his eyes.

Oh. That's right, I was.

"I remember there was a time when you claimed that you could outrun and outdistance any one of us in a race. Were you exaggerating, Duo? Laying it on thick because you never expected anyone to actually challenge you? Well, then, here's your chance to prove yourself."

And with that, he took off.

Well, I'll be damned if it didn't seem like Heero "Ninmu Ryoukai" Yuy was just _flirting_ with me! The incredulously amused look on Q's face told me I wasn't the only one who thought that might have been the case.

Hot damn!

"Oh, no you don't, Heero, ya dirty cheatin' bastard! You don't realize who yer dealin' with! Shinigami, loses to no one, Yuy! Yer gonna regret challengin' me, pal! I'm gonna kick yer sorry a-"

"Duo, you are well aware of the fact that you _are_ losing right now, right?" Quatre called. I looked up to see all four of my friends racing ahead of me.

"Bastards!" And with that, I took off, determined to teach the four of them that nobody messes with….

Damn. Trowa was a lot faster than I thought.

**:ooooo:**

"See, isn't this nice, guys? Just relaxin' and soakin' and not worryin' about anything? We told you this was a great spot!" Looking around, I could tell that the others were in silent agreement.

Quatre had brought one of those float-y pool things and was gliding on his back, hands trailing in the water, smiling happily. Wufei was lying on a rock, meditating, I guess, and Trowa and Heero were swimming laps. Yeah, that was too much exercise for me. I was sitting on an underwater rock shelf, up to my neck in the water with my braid floating beside me.

It was so nice. More than nice, in fact, as Heero stopped swimming and put his sexy self on display directly in front of me.

Heck. Yes.

Dripping wet, head thrown back, eyes closed and literally steaming, he was orgasm incarnate. God, he looked good enough to eat!

HA!

I finally mused without getting cut off.

All the relaxing was nice, but after a while, I got bored. Something was missing….

Oh, yeah. Fun.

"Think fast, Wu!" I cried as I doused the Chinese boy with a torrent of warm water. I grinned, pleased with myself, as he sputtered and cursed.

Then, he glared at me and there was silence.

Quatre sat up on his float, mouth open in mute horror. Trowa covered his mouth with his hand, wide-eyed. Heero gave me a look. "Oh, Duo, why did you do that?" it said. "You and I were supposed to hook up and have amazingly hot man-sex tonight, but now we can't, because Wufei's going to kill you."

…Okay, so _maybe_ it read more along the lines of "Duo no baka, he's gonna waste you, and I'm going to laugh while he does it," but that's splitting hairs.

I looked back to Wufei, noting the utter and complete rage on his face, at my having disturbed his meditation, and decided that splashing him was not one of my smarter life choices.

"Hey, now. Wu, buddy," I began conciliatorily, backing up in the water. He stalked towards me, murder written all over his face. "It was just a joke, man, I mean, come on, you were gonna get wet eventually, right?" He continued, wading deeper in towards me. "Hey, it coulda been cold, Wu! At least it wasn't cold right? And at least yer pants're thick, just imagine how bad _that_ would have been! Would you really have wanted us to see you cold and wet, in thin white pants?" Wufei stopped his advance, confused, and I took advantage of his hesitation. "I don't think you'd want us to see you smaller than you already are, Wu-baby."

I watched the play of emotions on his face, as the bewilderment turned into disgust, which turned into embarrassment, which changed back to rage.

It didn't help the situation at all when the others started cracking up.

"MAXWELL!"

And with that, I dove under the water, with the howls of the others following me.

"Maxwell, you coward, get back here and face justice!" I heard a splash as he dove in after me, and I swam faster, in a vain attempt to avoid the inevitable, ducking behind rocks and swimming low, causing sediment to cloud up behind me. Laughing to myself, I surfaced and swam like hell towards the first person I saw.

"Save me, Trowa!" I shouted, flinging myself at him. Still laughing, he disentangled himself from me.

"No way, Duo. You got yourself into this, don't ask to me to bail you out." He pushed me back into the water, in the direction that the dreaded Wu-shark was circling underwater. Quatre giggled and I turned pleadingly to him. He shook his head.

"Oh, no, don't try and get me involved in your water-war, Duo. I don't feel like getting wet right now." I smirked dangerously and swam towards him. He visibly paled. "Y-you stay away from me, Duo Maxwell," he warned, back-pedaling on his float. I grinned wider and swam faster, vaguely aware of Wufei surfacing at the other end of the pond. Quatre was moving his hands furiously now, as I was only a few feet away from him. "Duo, I'm serious, you get the hell away from me, or by Allah I'll- AAAHHHH!"

Too late, Q-bean!

I laughed as I lunged at him, upsetting his precious float and sending him screaming him ass-over-ear into the water. Behind me, Heero and Trowa were roaring, both doubled over as far as they could get without drowning. But as Quatre resurfaced, looking so much like a drowned rat, the laughing slowed, quieted, and then stopped altogether. Seconds later it began anew, if possible even louder. Damn, it sounded like they were dying!

"Oh, shit," I whispered before once again hauling butt through the water.

"Get back here, you jackass!" The dripping apparition behind me snarled. I had no time to curse myself for forgetting about Wufei, as I was viciously dragged under the water. I swallowed a mouthful of hot, liquid doom and gagged, clawing my way to the surface, while at the same time trying to put as much distance between myself and those strong hands as I could.

"Duuuooo," someone chimed sweetly. _Too_ sweetly. I turned, horrified, to see both my bedraggled friends advancing on me. I yelped and ran (actually, can you _really _call it running when you're making such ungainly, ineffective movements in the water?) to Heero, as Trowa had been wise enough to move away. I flung myself at his chest. Mmmm… such a _wonderful_ chest….

"H-Hee-chan, you'll protect me right? Y-ya won't let em hurt sweet lil' me, right? Right? H-Heero?" I gave him my best puppy-dog eyes and pouted. When he smiled down at me, I thought I was going to die of heart failure. God, why was he so hot?

"Oh, _poor_ Duo," he purred, leaning down. He wrapped both arms around me and picked me up. Dear sweet friggin' heavens, was this really happening! Heero "Walking Wet Dream" Yuy was really HOLDING ME IN HIS ARMS! This was, like, my fourth-favorite fantasy!

We were so close, his lips inches from mine, and he was still smiling that dazzling smile, his blue eyes half-mast. He lifted me a little higher, smiled a little wider and I closed my eyes, willing this moment to never end when he… did the entirely predictable, totally evil thing of tossing me back into the water.

Bastard.

I flew through the air and landed with a resounding splash in front of my two tormentors. Once again, spluttering, I came up for air, simply to be dunked back under.

"How's it taste, Duo?" Quatre demanded as I surfaced once again, only to be attacked from behind by Wufei. "Like REVENGE?" Fuck, I was gonna drown if they kept this up! (For some inexplicable reason, the perverted part of my brain thought 'Hahaha, keep it up, Duo!')

That's when I remembered….

I grabbed onto Wufei and began pulling the drawstring of his trunks. "I was just kiddin' before, 'Fei, I'm sure you've got a huge, monster of a dick, and you wouldn't mind if we saw it at all, would you?"

That turned out to be just the edge I needed. Wufei cried out, and his face began in the most amazing fountain impersonation I've ever witnessed. With Wu's nose gushing blood, Quat grew concerned, rushing to his side, and thus freeing me of my captors.

"Hn, nice strategy, 02," I heard in my ear. I whirled around to look into a pair of intense Prussian blue eyes. Eyes that normally would have had me completely captivated, but this time around….

SPLASH!

"Dammit, Yuy, you fuckwad, what're you doing!" I was ONCE AGAIN forced into the deliciously hot water, and most of it seemed to have gone up my nose and into my brain.

Phew!

I whirled around to face Heero, growling. "Why'd ya do that, you jerk!" He grinned lazily and stalked slowly towards me. I gulped at the effect that look had on my groin.

Whoohoo, down, boy!

"I dunno, I guess like the way you look when you're wet." I groaned involuntarily as he pressed his body against mine, and my brain shut down. "When you're hot and wet…." He trailed off, smirked, and licked his lips. My breath caught in my throat and I blinked. This was the best thing to ever happen to me! …Except for maybe that time I got to straddle his lap to pick a lock in an interrogation room (I took _foreeeever_). Or that one time during Quatre's yacht party (Ah, _God_). Or that time he let me sleep naked in his bed with him (_GOD!_). Oh, there was absolutely no way this could be happening, no way my life was this good….

DUNK!

"You are very gullible, 02."

Nope. No way.

"Yuy, you fucking shit!"

**:ooooo:**

An hour later, as the five of us soggy, exhausted ex-pilots began heading back towards the campsite, I noticed a cave. It wasn't anything extraordinary, really, just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill forest cave. But, I'd never had the chance to be in a cave like that one, and being the brash explorer (idiot!) that I was, I decided that "it'd be fun to see what's in it."

Yeah. Go me.

_:Twenty-five minutes into the cave:_

"Maxwell, I don't believe this to be one of your better ideas. I have a bad feeling about this place." I snorted.

"Oh, hush, 'Fei. You had a bad feeling about that Mexican restaurant we went to last week, too."

"Duo, need I remind you we all got food poisoning there? …And I have to agree with Wufei, something's not right about this place." I turned, frowning. Looking around, I couldn't see anything about the place that bothered _me_ any. Other than the fact that the walls were all drippy. But we were pretty far into the cave, and that's what cave walls did, right? They dripped.

"Alright, Mr. Space-Heart, what do you find so wrong about it?" Quatre opened his mouth to speak but was cut off.

"Guys, come look at this." Trowa's voice sounded distant and funny. He and Heero (why did the two of them always seem to be near each other?) were standing shoulder-to-shoulder, inspecting what appeared to be a small lagoon. I stood next to Heero (of course) and peered into the depression. The water, or whatever it was, was a nacreous (aha! didn't know I knew that word, did you?) grayish-blue. Weird.

"Duo, what the hell are you doing?" Heero asked as I knelt down near the edge. I looked up at him, rolling my eyes.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Heero, I'm lookin' at it." I put my face close to the surface, and stared at my own reflection. The others followed, all kneeling and examining the surface of the water more carefully.

Yesss, I'm a trendsetter!

Bored with staring at the water, I was about to suggest we go ahead and go back when a streak of light shot beneath the surface of the water.

"The hell?" Trowa started. Then I saw it again, a pulse of GREEN light, the same GREEN of the forest, flitted under the water.

"What a pretty blue," Q breathed. I was too intrigued with the pool to notice that the poor kid couldn't distinguish colors anymore.

"Too weird," I whispered. I reached my hand out, thinking stupidly that maybe if I touched the water, my hand would come out GREEN. Or something.

I honestly don't know _what_ I was thinking.

"_Duo you idiot, don't touch it_!" But it was too late. My fingers broke through, and ripples slowly swelled across the surface. The… "water"… felt odd, to say the least, more like a thick syrup than anything really liquid. I pulled my hand out slowly, then dipped it back in.

"Guys, check this out." I began to move my hand around in the stuff, fascinated with the feel of it against my skin. The others looked at each other, and slowly, they all lowered their hands into the liquid.

"Damn it, that's hot!" Trowa said, grimacing.

"Allah, it's freezing!" Quatre gasped.

"'S weird. It's gritty," Heero said, frowning in confusion.

"It shocked me!" Wufei snarled.

"Fucking feels like syrup, doesn't it?" I asked.

Each of these five different takes on the stuff in the lagoon came out of five different mouths at the same time.

We had a moment to stare incredulously at each other before the water lit up again. Different colors of light surrounded each of our submerged hands: Quatre's hand was engulfed in ice-blue, Trowa's in a bright orange-red, Wufei's encased in neon yellow, Heero's in bright silver, and my own in Super-GREEN.

That GREEN exploding in my eyes, surrounding my entire body, was the last thing I saw before I landed hard on my back and blacked out.

TBC!

Please R&R!


	2. Reality Check!

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, future limes, mostly Duo's POV

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5+S, OC+2

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the G-boys, a fact that makes me cry to this day. I do, however, own everyone in this fic who's not in GW. Go me!

A/N: Just to let you know, Chapter two has also been heavily revised and edited. Why doesn't anyone ever tell me when the fic's riddled with errors and contradictions? Gah!

**Chapter 2: Reality Check!**

Oh, I was having the most fabulous dream. A dream where I was still in the hot spring. The situation was pretty much the same: the five of us were just hanging out, relaxing. Then, as you remember, I splashed Wufei and the madness ensued, with Q joining the hunt for my blood, Heero betraying me, Wu and Q attacking me, Heero betraying me again. All that crap was the same.

Here's where my dream differed ever so slightly from the actual situation: you remember how he was all "I like the way you look when you're all wet, and hot?" Well, in my dream, Heero DIDN'T do the totally jerky, un-cool thing of dunking me back into the water after I came up for air. Instead, Dream Heero lifted me (gently) into his (sexy, powerful) arms and leaned his (gorgeous) head down, gently caressing my lips with his own, whispering my name in that oh-so-sexy baritone of his. He told me he wanted me. I replied in kind.

And then, we kissed.

We weren't kissing in the mushy, sappy way you see your Mommy and Daddy doin' it, or the way you see daytime soap stars making out. Ours was a wet, violent, tongue-sucking, tonsil-probing assault on the others' mouth. Dream Heero was exceptionally aggressive, and after a few moments of the first kiss, he spun me roughly around and slammed me into the rock behind us. I gasped and he took advantage of my open mouth. I do so _love_ being taken advantage of. Sliding his slippery, naked body against my own, (no, I didn't know when or how we lost our clothes, and I couldn't bring myself to care) he ran a calloused hand through my hair (didn't know how it came down, didn't care) and continued to plunder my mouth with his tongue.

Mmm, he was such a marvelous plunderer.

With his free hand, he began to explore my body, and I gave into the same temptation, running my hands up and down his muscled back, reveling in the hardness of the expanse.

Speaking of hard….

Dream Heero broke our kiss and smiled softly. Then, he leaned close, nuzzling my ear, and his hand trekked downward. "Duo," he purred. I melted and leaned into his embrace.

"Yeah?" I asked breathlessly.

"I want-" I never got to hear the rest. Because at that moment, a fucking HUGE, GREEN plant-beast descended from the heavens, ate Heero, and… I heard voices….

* * *

"Maybe you should wake him up." 

"No way! You wake him up."

"Don't make him do your dirty work, Razyo, you're supposed to be taking care of him. Y_ou_ wake him up."

"Oh. Well, then, never mind. Hey, guys?"

"But Taiga found 'em. He should wake him up. He _needs_ to wake up."

"Leave him alone, if you want 'im awake so badly, wake 'im up, Razyo!"

"Guys?"

"I don't really want him awake! Who knows what he's doing here? But… then again, we won't know what he is or what he's doing in this forest until he's up."

"D'ya think he c'n talk? Cuz even if'e wakes up, it won't be really solving anything if'e can't talk."

"Well, the other ones could talk, and he was talking a second ago, before he started yelling."

"_Guys_?"

"'Ren, what's a Hiiiii-ro?"

"Fuck if I know. Why d'ya think he kept moaning like that? The same reason he screamed?"

"I dunno, maybe he's hurt. What do you think, Kyo?"

"….."

"Hey, do you think-"

"GUYS!"

"What, Taiga?"

There was a chuckle in response to the outburst. "He's awake. Has been for awhile now." I found myself blinking into four different pairs of eyes, all trained on me. Where the heck was I? Looking straight up, I could see the white, brown and green of what resembled a hotel room ceiling, or something, and there were plants everywhere, but that wasn't a great distinguishing factor, so I had no clue where I was. I had to say, though, this was a weird place for a holding cell.

My vision was horribly blurred, so I didn't really notice until the last minute when one of the people who'd been arguing over me got in my face. Brown eyes. "Hey, there. Prove us right, huh? You _can_ talk, can't you?" he asked softly.

Now, I know I may not be known as the most eloquent person, but come on, what the fuck kind of question was "can you talk?"! There I was, a grown-ass man/boy and this guy was asking if I could talk?

I sat up, ignoring my body as it protested the action. "Can I talk?" I asked heatedly. "You mean _will_ I talk? You have to mean will, 'cause you know damn well I can talk! I can talk circles around every one of you fucks! I don't know what you want, but you can do your worst, by all means, 'cause you'll never hear whatever it is from me! I was trained better'n that!"

Hey, being an ex-pilot is taxing on the psyche. There were still some sick people out there who were pissed because of the war; you never where the next OZ supporter could be waiting for you in the shadows. My motto was to assume the worst and cover all the bases.

Brown-eyes held his hands up defensively and took a step backwards. …At least, I think he did, because he stopped blocking my light. "Alright, alright, so you can talk, karo, no need to get so violent about it…."

"Sadistic? Do our worst because we'll ever hear what we… want…? What's all 'at mean?" I dimly noted that it was a girl's voice.

"Hn, he's feisty, no?" someone chuckled. I heard footsteps approaching me and then something else blocked my light. Dammit, stop getting in my light!

Snarling 'cause I was sick of lying on my back while those people stood over me, saying shit I didn't understand, I rubbed my eyes and prepared to… I dunno, run, defend myself, whatever was necessary. And after my vision cleared, I saw that staring was necessary.

Oh, yes, very necessary indeed. I shook my head and took a second look to see if I was dreaming.

Nope, not dreaming. Damn.

Since when was reality so fucking _surreal_? Standing over me was the guy who'd chuckled. Long red hair and gray eyes, tall, well built, and overall, pretty attractive. Very nice. I would almost dare to say he was hot. However, a few things stopped me from daring to say that. You may ask, "Duo, what would stop you form daring to say that this particular guy was hot?" And to that, I would have to reply thatthe setback was the fact that this particular hottie candidate had DOG EARS and a TAIL.

But just maybe.

Now, please, don't start in on me with that whole, "Oh, silly Duo, people don't have animal components on their bodies, that's impossible, why don't you go take a nap, and try talking to me again when you're lucid?" thing, I know what I saw! The long orange-and-white tail was swishing back and forth behind him, brushing against the fabric of his deep blue pants, while one ear was cocked forward and the other stuck out to the side his head. Yeah, I know what I saw. There was a supremely good-looking guy, or at least, he would have been a supremely good-looking guy, if not for the not-so-human parts of his body, standing over me and grinning. That's when I noticed he had fangs.

The fuck?

I scooted backwards frantically, trying to get AWAY from those teeth.

And that's when I noticed I was butt-naked.

I cracked. That was _too_ _much_!

"Get the hell away from me, you sicko, what's wrong with you! Where the hell are my clothes?" I began scrambling around on the bed they'd put me on, snatching the sheets up, trying to preserve what was left of my dignity. They stared at me and I glared at ferociously at them, daring them to attempt to defend their reasoning.

Then, another thought hit me: I was alone in the room except for these weirdoes. "Where the hell are my friends? What did you do to them, you bastards? If you've hurt them, I swear, on Shinigami's name, I'm gonna make sure you all rot in hell where you belo-" I was cut off mid-rant by a gentle hand on my arm.

For some reason, I felt immediately calm, an odd warmth seeping through my body. I felt sleepy and lethargic. Drugged up. Sedated. Fuck, I hated being sedated! (Whoohoo, a rhyme!) I turned sharply– er, well, as sharply as I could, when I felt like I was made of marshmallows and peanut butter, damned drugs– and faced the owner of that stupid hand with the stupid needle probably hidden in it somewhere, fully prepared to chew the guy out… when I found out I couldn't. Oh, no, you can't yell at someone as pretty as this guy was. It was probably illegal! Never in a million years could I bring myself to yell at _anyone_ this hot.

With really long black hair that flowed down his back and ice blue eyes, the guy looked for all the world like some sort of god descended from the heavens for the sole purpose of making humans feel aesthetically inferior. He was wearing a pale blue shirt the same color as his eyes and very, very, _very_ tight black pants that left absolutely _nothing_ to the imagination. Oh, yes, this guys was Grade-A Quality stud material! (So I'm a pervert, so what?) I quickly checked him for any abnormalities and found none. Thank God, he was hot _and _normal.

Heck, yes!

I locked eyes with him for a second and tried to smile, 'cause I knew for a fact that I looked much cuter that way. The guy scowled at me, narrowing his eyes and curling his upper lip in a vicious snarl.

Well, shit.

That _definitely_ wasn't the reaction I'd been going for. Jeez, all I did was _smile_ at him!

"How's 'e doin' Kyo-kida?" I heard from behind me. The black-haired boy looked up and over my shoulder.

"He's fine, Raz, tense but fine." The black-haired guy's voice was deep, rich, and melodic. He looked back down, giving me another scathing look, then closed his eyes and tossed his head, clearing the hair from his eyes.

Dammit, even when he was being haughty, he was a head rush! (Hey, just because he seemed to hate me didn't mean I was going to lie about how incredibly fine he was.)

"So, he's alright, huh, Kyo?" the voice purred, much closer to me than before. I couldn't bring myself to turn around and get a look at him, though, as whatever they'd drugged me with was near-paralyzing.

Dammit! Curse them and their fast-acting sedatives! "And was I right, Kyo-kido? Tell me, was I right about the boy and his friends?" Kyo, the jet-haired hottie, rolled his eyes and turned away. The other continued. "I was, wasn't I? Come on, you can say it, baby, I have faith in you, I know you can." I could practically hear the smirk in this guy's voice. It reminded me of me, when I was in full-on flirt-mode with Heero…. So Kyo was taken. By the dude behind me, Raz, or whatever his name was. Lucky bastard.

Sighing again, Kyo turned on his oh-so-sexy heel and walked towards a doorway I hadn't noticed before. "The others and I will go ahead and get going; I figure Urai will want us to gather the other students. I'll see you back at the temple, Razyo. Let the boy know the true reason he's here, though. I'd _hate_ for him worry about it." With a coldly mocking glance in my direction, he left. Man, he really didn't like me, did he? Oh, well, I thought as I lowered my head.

Easy come, easy go.

Suddenly, my stomach lurched and I groaned, holding my head in my hands and hating whatever tranquilizer they used. There was a chuckle and I felt a weight on the cot-thingy as the boy sat down next to me. "Don't pay any attention to Kyo, gorgeous, he's just pissed 'cause I'm paying more attention than necessary to someone who's not him." I looked up at him slowly and would have opened my eyes wider if my face muscles worked. Gaddammit, why were all of these people so fucking good-looking!

The boy longish spiky hair, and whoever dyed it did a kick-ass job with the coloring; bright green with black tips. Awesome. He was wearing a tight grey shirt that laced up in the front and a black thong choker around his slender neck. Sexy. His pants were similar to Kyo's, tight and black, and he was sporting knee-high black boots. Very sexy. This guy was delicious! I looked back into his face and found that one of his eyes was obscured by his super-cool hair, while the visible one was really bright gray, almost silver and lined in what looked like black kohl.

It was people like those that made me glad I was gay!

"Here drink this. Kyo put a lot into that calming trance. Sorry 'bout that. He tends to get carried away with his spells, but you know how it is." I took the proffered cup and lifted it tentatively to my lips, staring perplexedly at the sexy boy over the rim.

Spells? I… knew how it was? Ooookaaaay. Maybe he was talking about medicine? Yeah, that's it. Medicine.

"Oh, and no need to worry about your friends, they're safe. One of 'em, the black-haired one? He's still unconscious, but other than a few mild scrapes and bruises, the other three're just fine. I'll take you to the anteroom, and you can see them then." I continued to stare at him. For all his fine-ness, the kid seemed a tad bit _off_. He noticed me staring again and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I've completely forgotten my manners. Name's Razyokai, if you didn't hear." He held out a slender hand with a tiny green leaf tattooed on it. "Most everybody calls me Razyo, but I'll answer to just about anything." He bowed, grinning hugely. "So, Razyokai Lai'Isala, at your service." See what I mean? Just a tad _off_.

I'd been so busy listening to him that I'd forgotten about the contents of the cup. I really wished I hadn't remembered it as I took a gulp.

"AACK!" I threw the cup containing the vile liquid down, as far away as possible, covering my poor, abused mouth with my hand. What the HELL was that crap? I looked accusatorily at the boy. "What'd you just give me?" I demanded. Razyo shrugged.

"Not much, really, it's just an anti-soporific. I'm sure you didn't want to be so 'calm' that you couldn't move, right?" I stared at him.

Anti-sopo-what?

He smiled at me, leaning closer. "I mean, what if someone decided to take advantage of you while you were under the influence?" The smile grew predatory and I leaned back.

Hold up.

Was this guy… hitting on me? Me? With Mr. I'm-Too­-Sexy-For­-My-Pants for a boyfriend? No way!

"Uh, look, Razyo, you're really hot and all," that earned me a raised eyebrow along with that hungry smile, "and I tell you this at the risk of looking like a coward, which I most certainly am not, I'm scared of your boyfriend." He backed away, frowned, and blinked, looking perplexed.

"Boyfriend? Who's my boyfriend?" Now it was my turn to look perplexed.

"You mean Kyo's not…?" The green-haired boy stared at me for a moment before laughing.

"Oh, fuck, no! I mean, don't get me wrong, getting him to fall for me is my life's goal, but no. I've known him since we were little. Unfortunately for me, we're just friends." The lascivious smirk returned to his face. "So there's a vacancy, if you're interested…." He reached out with elegant tapered fingers and caressed the side of my face. I jerked as though I'd been shot.

"Shit, man, don't you think you're movin' a little fast? You're in love with somebody else, you don't even know my _name_, I mean, come on!"

Pouting a little, Razyo sat back and sighed. "Alright, what's your name?"

"Duo." He nodded and moved towards me again, under the impression that we clearly knew enough about each other, now, to date. I held my hands out, effectively stilling his movement. "But, look, man, there's already, well it's like a you and Kyo situation, I guess… I mean, I'm kinda in love with-"

"Aahh… Heero?" he supplied. I nodded, then did a double take, staring at him, shocked.

How the fuck did he know! Only Quatre and Hilde knew that! Them and Trowa. And Howard and the Sweepers… and pretty much everyone who'd ever seen the two of us together…. But hell, Razyokai wasn't one of those people!

He must have noticed the wheels turning in my head, because he smiled and tweaked my nose playfully. "You were moaning and calling his name in your sleep." I remembered my dream and blushed. Raze laughed. "Which one is he?" he asked excitedly. "Is it the little blond one? 'Cause he's _really_- oh, never mind, I remember the way he was looking at the one with the funny hair while he was sleeping." He giggled and blushed the tiniest bit. (Note to self: ask Q what the hell happened while he was staring at Trowa.) Raz tossed his head and stared into my face. "So, Heero must be the one with those magnificent blue eyes, huh? Really messy brown hair?" I sighed and nodded. Razyo whistled appreciatively. "Damn! I'd honestly be too scared to try anything with Tall Dark and Scowling, though. The first words that came outta his mouth when he woke up were death threats. Kyo had one helluva time trying to calm him down." Raze sighed, pouting just a bit. "So, you like _that_ one?" I nodded again.

"Yep, no doubt in my mind." He nodded sagely.

"Ha," he laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about Kyo. I don't really want anyone but him, but I'll take what I can get, you know? No offense, it's just that I… I don't think anyone's as… beautiful as Kyo is." Heero's hotter'n him, I thought pridefully…. Well, as hot, anyway. "Just sucks that he doesn't feel the same, yanno? Sometimes I wonder if that guy feels anything for anybody." I nodded sympathetically (my, but we were doing a lot of nodding!); I could relate. He smirked (a lotta that, too). "How long've you known?"

"Ever since I shot him." The emerald-haired boy stared (and that…).

"Y-you _shot_ the man you're in love with?"

"Uh-huh. Twice."

"And he's friends with you?"

"Ah, yeah. We were… in the war together, we were Gundam pilots. That's why I thought you guys had captured me, to get information. You'd be surprised how many people want to start another war, man." Razyo narrowed his eyes, still staring.

"You… were in a war? Here? Sorry, but from the tests we ran, you are far too young to have been in any war or battle this area's seen in quite some time." Now it was my turn to stare.

Huh?

"Uh, dude, what're you talkin' about? Are you tryin' ta tell me that you… what, never heard 'a the war? Wha' d'you people live in a box or somethin'? Not that I'm knockin' it, cuz I know I did a few times in my life, but-" I stopped talking when I realized that this kid just wasn't on the same page as me. I pulled my hair in frustration. "Damn, Razyo, what's wrong with you? There's no way you coulda just not heard about the wars! They went on for, like, ever! We were terrorists! And then the Colonies against OZ and the Earth Sphere, Gundams against Mobile Suits? White Fang, Sanq Kingdom, any 'a this ring a bell? Jeez, all the shit that was goin' down was in the news every fucking day! And stop lookin' at me like I'm crazy, dammit!" I snapped when he gave me a look that clearly suggested that I might be.

"Duo… what're you talking about? What's a Gun-dum? What colonies went to war against what Earth, what is Ahz, what's a Mobile Suit, dammit, Duo, what are you talking about? There hasn't been a war in Ran tre Kaeido in decades, and one would think I should know, my father was a general! You're talking nonsense, Duo!"

Ran tre Kaeido. And _I_ was the one talking nonsense!

I wanted to cry out of sheer frustration. No, really, I did. It was one thing for these people to take me into some hotel room somewhere and undress me. That I could handle. It was one thing for some dude to go and have his body genetically altered with animal parts. Fine, whatever floats your boat, pal. It was one thing to substitute the word "spell" for… I dunno, drugs. Loony mind you, but relatively feasible. It was one thing for some hot guy I just met to want to fucking date me before he even knew my name. What can I say, I am Duo Maxwell.

But it was a whole different animal when said lovely pretended to have no idea about a war that lasted _over_ _ten_ _fucking_ _years_!

We argued for a good fifteen minutes, with him rambling on about places that I knew for a fact did _not_ exist anywhere on Earth or on the colonies, while I tried my level best to figure out what kind of drug this guy had to have been on, to be so high as to miss an entire goddam war. I was growing more and more frustrated with him as time passed. And what was even more irritating was the fact that that annoying buzzy-tingly sensation was back, and this time I felt it in my mind and all over my body. Dammit, I was sick of all the fucking weirdness in this place! Just let me go home, screw Wufei's camping trip!

"Can y'just take me to the guys, Razyo, I'm done with this," I sighed. I was tired of trying to convince him, pissed off that he was so… so damn _out_ of it. The boy smirked darkly and got off the bed.

"Very well then, Duo, I'll take you to your friends. Please follow me." I prepared to stand up when I remembered my lack of clothing.

"Uh, Raz?" I called. He turned and grinned as he caught sight of my attempt at being modest.

"Yes, Duo-kida?" he purred. I had no time to wonder what the hell "kida" meant with him leering at me like that. I frowned at him and his grin widened.

"Dammit, Raz, you know what I need!" He pulled an innocent face.

"No, I don't. Tell me, Duo, what do you need? I'm _dying_ to know."

It was then that I realized that Razyokai and myself were very much alike. We were both obnoxious, teasing, rebellious and in love with men who were apparently oblivious. We were both outgoing (from what I could tell), and he seemed to pretty quick-witted. Yeah, I had a feeling that him and I could be good friends, close buddies, that I'd like him a lot, keep in touch when we went back home ('cause I still had NO idea where we were) and all that jazz.

That is, I would like him if I didn't _hate_ him so much at the moment.

"Dammit, Raze, stop playin' around and get me some goddam clothes, okay!" He laughed and dodged the half-hearted punch I threw at him.

"Alright, alright, calm down. I'll be back in a sec." He tossed another grin over his shoulder as he headed towards the door. "Don't go anywhere, Duo," he joked. I scowled and he left, laughing. I sighed and sat back, taking in my surroundings.

I was totally wrong about the room having been any sort of holding cell, as it really did look very much like a hotel suite. The walls were a lovely cream color, with gold and black panels lining the entire room. Looking down at the carpet, I could tell, even from up on my perch on the bed, that it was lush and soft. Damn, this place is nice, I thought as I looked back up at the ceiling, noticing for the first time, the ornate golden chandelier hanging from it. Ritzy was the word that came to mind. In fact, it kinda reminded me of one of Q's house/mansion/fortresses. A guy could get used to this place!

I was in the midst of continuing my observations of the place when I felt that weird tingly-buzzing sensation again. I looked around the room, searching for the cause of the odd feeling that kept seeming to wrap itself around my brain. Dammit, I hated things that wrapped themselves around my brain!

Snarling, I turned around sharply in the bed, ready to raise hell. "Dammit, what… the… fuck…."

Yeah, I'd been expecting, you know, like, nothing in front of me, or maybe, at the most, a person. _But_, _no_. I'd forgotten that I was in weirdo-freak-nothing-makes-any-fucking-walking-around-sense-land. No, _nothing_ in front of me would have been too _normal_. So, yes, there I was, stark naked in a bed with nothing but a sheet to cover myself with, with some wicked-looking monster of a Venus-flytrap-from-hell literally hovering over me.

For a moment, I was brave, I was calm, I was quiet. I stared at the massive aberration of nature, my lips a thin white scar on my face. A funny squeaking sound came from the back of my throat, threatening to become a squeal if I didn't maintain my composure.

So, I maintained, as any true Gundam pilot would.

The plant-monster cocked its head (and YES, I am going to call it a head, 'cause that's what it looked like, dammit!) and lengthened out, its face (DON'T START!) inches from mine.

Alright, now first of all, let me drop some knowledge on you: a plant is defined as any of various photosynthetic, eukaryotic, multicellular organism of the kingdom Plantae, characteristically producing embryos, containing chloroplasts, having cellulose cell walls, and lacking the power of locomotion. That's the Webster definition, baby.

Now, did anyone catch that last part, hmm? No? Here, let me spell it out for you.

_LACKING THE POWER OF LOCOMOTION!_

Yes, I was brave for a little bit. I managed not to scream when the PLANT MOVED. I was good about that. Go me. Aforementioned bravery leaked out of my ears when the aforementioned plant GRINNED, extended a long purple-black TONGUE, and **_LICKED MY GODDAMNED FACE!_**

Yeah, screw bravery, man.

I closed my eyes and screamed as if to wake the dead.

I screamed even louder when I felt something cool coil around my right arm and turned to see Plant-zilla still staring at me. It was at that moment that I noticed that the thing had fangs. I blinked rapidly. Nope, they were still there. Long, needlike, evil, dripping fangs. That was the reality of it.

I fucking hated reality.

Maybe I should stop this whole fainting thing, was my last thought before I heard the sounds of hurried footsteps and I blacked out for the second time in twenty-four hours.

* * *

To Be Continued… 

Please R&R!


	3. New Worlds and Magic and Demons, Oh My!

Chapter 3

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, short introductory Heero POV, remainder Duo's POV

Rating: changed to R, to be safe. No sex just yet, but there will be groping (some of it nonconsensual, hehee!), sexual manipulation, fantasizing, kissing, and things of that nature.

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5+S, two OC pairings

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the G-boys, a fact that makes me cry to this day. I do, however, own everyone in this fic who's not in GW. Go me!

A/N: Hey, there! Good news: this is the UPDATED Chapter 3, yay! Man, why didn't anyone ever tell me how _bad_ this chapter was before? Argh! Anyway, I'd like to thank those who informed me of Heero and Wufei's OOC-ness, and I truly hope I did them some justice. Please let me know what you think of it!

_-_"Speech"

_-Thoughts_

_-/Telepathy/_

Chapter 3: New Worlds and Magic and Demons, Oh My!

Heero:

"WHAT THE FUCK'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT, RAZ!" Duo thundered, accenting his rage with his fists upon the wooden table in front of us ( he really is beautiful when he's angry.) It was obvious he was over the effects of his … nightmare. We were sitting in a circle around aforementioned abused table, in the room where we found Duo out cold and stark naked.

For a brief few moments, that room was paradise to me.

The green-haired boy, Razyo, had revived him, and he woke up bawling, and how "the plant monster was going to come find and eat him because he tasted good."

Now, I wasn't one to dispute the fact that Duo probably did taste good, but a plant… monster? A sentient, mobile plant? With a tongue? Impossible. It made no sense. After he explained, I explained to him it had been a nightmare. It had to have been. Because, like the one Razyokai was in the process of trying to explain to the five of us, the story Duo told made absolutely no sense.

First, he ranted to us that, when he woke up, a man with dog ears and a tail was in the room with him (…which I couldn't really believe). Then, he told us that Razyo, who had taken care of us when we woke, had been hitting on him (which I definitely could believe, given how I'd seen him flirting with Quatre before Trowa regained consciousness). Finally, Duo concluded with how he'd been viciously attacked by the illustrious plant-beast. (…Which I definitely _didn't_ believe.)

What the hell? First we wake up in the middle of some complex, with some overly-excited boy with green hair "taking care of us" (I really don't remember him actually _doing_ anything), then we hear Duo yelling as if to wake the dead, then we find him and he tells us some fantasy story, and Razyo backs him up, adding that not only was there actually a "plant monster", but we were in a different world altogether. Damn it, why was today so full of… weirdness, for lack of a better word?

Huh. Funny how three years ago, I could have come up with at least fifty other words, in ten different languages that were decidedly better than "weirdness."

Then again, three years ago, if you'd told me I would eventually be ale to drop the Perfect Soldier routine, get a life, and spend my weekends with my four fellow pilots, I would have scowled darkly in your general direction (which, back then, was the equivalent of my laughing in your face). If you'd told me that I would crack jokes about the similarities between Relena Peacecraft's limousine (shudder) and Chang Wufei's penis (please, don't ask, I think I was drunk), you would have received a Heero Yuy Death Glare™ (which was to say, a Heero Yuy Death Glare™). If you'd have told me that I would, in the future, willingly lie on my back on the deck of one of Quatre's mega-yachts and allow Duo Maxwell to suck and lick a tequila shot off my bare stomach (I was DRUNK, damn it), I'd have "Omae o korosu"'d you. Come to think of it, if you told me that I would ever get drunk, I think I might have "Omae o korosu"'d you. And if you ever dared tell me that when I went home the evening following said body shot, I'd spend the entire night fantasizing about Duo and things I could do to him on a yacht, I would have emptied a few clips in you, starting with your knees.

But that was three years ago. Nowadays, you tell me I occasionally jack off to the picture I have of Duo glistening, wet, and half-naked at Quatre's last pool party, and I'd proudly own up to it.

I'd just rip out your tongue and cut off your extremities to make sure you never told anyone else.

It's not like I didn't know that Duo wanted me. On the contrary, he had a habit of demonstrating the fact quite often. Hell, he'd done just about everything short of tattooing "Heero, Please Screw Me" onto his forehead. (He night have it on his back somewhere, though.) I knew he liked me, and I felt the same way about him, it's just that, for some reason, I could never find the fortitude to actually say it. I'll bet anything that when I do tell him, it'll probably end up happening in some horribly cliché way. I'll drop by his apartment unexpectedly, letting myself in with the spare key he gave me, and he'll be on the phone with Quatre, pouring his heart out to the blond about how there's now way a guy like me would ever love a guy like him. Then, I'd sneak up behind him, hang up the phone, gently wrap my arms around him while he stutters, and proceed to quash his fears of rejection with sweet, passionate kisses.

At least, that's how I picture it happening.

Trowa calls me a hopeless romantic; because of the way I talk about Duo. I say he's blind, because of the fact he never seems to catch Quatre mooning after him. Sometime after he pieced me back together after my self-destruction in Siberia, Trowa and I became close. We talked a lot, confided in each other, much in the same way I'm sure Quatre and Duo did, reassuring each other and ourselves that the two boys returned our affections. Although Trowa just admitted his bisexuality, I think he knew he wanted Quatre since the day he met the little blond.

I, myself, had never really thought about it, but I suppose that up until I met Duo, I had been asexual. I'd convinced myself that as the Perfect Soldier, I didn't need love or sex or relationships. And it worked for a while, until he came along and ruined everything, with his beauty and his charm and his enigmatic behavior; a personality that ranged from the happy-go-lucky chatterbox, to Shinigami, to one of any normal, hormone-driven eighteen year-old boy, to the haunted child who was made to grow up too fast, too soon, after having lost everything he ever dared care for.

I don't want to get sentimental right now, though; it would change the mood of my musings.

Since I haven't found anyone attractive since I met him, and had never really considered anyone attractive before I met him, I guess you could say I was Duo-sexual. And since he is a boy, and I am a boy, technically that makes me gay. Gay. Duo Maxwell caused me to go from that cold, Perfect Soldier, Hero of the colonies, a boy who needed nothing but his missions (and his laptop) and no one but his Gundam, to what I am now: this relatively normal (normal for a boy who has a higher body count at the age of twenty than most seasoned war veterans, anyway) _gay_ young man, who could joke, relax, have fun, enjoy life and peacetime, his friends, without tensing at every lurking shadow, ducking at the sound of every overhead plane, contemplating suicide because he couldn't handle living life without having orders to follow.

We won't go there now, though. That's another story for another time.

Or maybe never.

Besides, angst is another mood killer.

_Look what you've done to me, Duo._ I thought._ You've got me musing. Musing!_ Something I never thought I'd want to do. ("Daydreaming is irrational and unproductive. A waste of time. There is no action involved, and thus no point." _Heero "The Perfect Soldier" Yuy_.) Daydreaming about you, Maxwell. Duo. Duo, Duo, Duo….

Damn, I hate musing. It always has a way of making me feel… exposed.

Back to Trowa and myself: in his the car before we arrived at the campsite, Trowa suggested that we grow a pair and tell Quatre and Duo how we felt before the 3-day camping trip was over. That we conquer our unfounded insecurities and go for what we wanted, as it wasn't exactly like we faced with rejection by either teen. The fact that Trowa and I had been saying the same thing for months eluded my logic, and I amended to the plan slightly, necessitating that we needed to do it by night two. He accepted the challenge, and it was settled. By night two, they would know. Operation: Date Them was underway, and Duo was my target.

Ninmu ryoukai.

I'll be the first to say we were idiots, as that was _the_ _most_ inane strategy I'd ever had the displeasure of knowing about. What made it even more pathetic, in my opinion, was the fact that I came up with half of it. The stupid half, at that.

I blame the fresh country air rushing through the windows and getting me high, for allowing me to entertaining the ludicrous plan.

I did come close to telling him, though. At the spring. I wanted to. Wufei, Trowa and I had played a few drinking games while the other boys were exploring, and I was a little flushed. The booze had me randy, and half out of my mind, and God, I wanted him so badly. The way he threw himself at me, slippery and partially nude, I wanted to forget decorum and take him right there in the water. Really, I did. But it was easier to hide my lust behind a joke, and throw him to our enraged friends. Both times I teased him, I remembered why Duo wore his prankster's mask the same way I used the Perfect Soldier façade, and that it was just as easy to use jokes as a shield as it was to hide behind detachment.

Anyways, day two, the day of reconciliation, had already come. I should have been excited, nervous, anxious, _anything_. But I wasn't. All because of Razyo and his idiotic explanation of why we were wherever the hell it was we were.

And it was hard to muse about Duo properly, when you had some boy telling you that you were in a world different from the one you'd always known to be the only one there was.

**:ooooo:**

"Are you honestly trying to tell us that we're in another dimension? Another _world_?" I asked this, even while pondering my own absurdity for entertaining that question, for considering that ridiculous idea. Trowa sighed and looked up.

"This may sound rude, Razyokai, but that is really stupid. It defies everything: logic, physics, and-"

"Gravity? Common fucking sense?" Duo was clearly not as worried about tact as the taller boy. "I mean, who the fuck knows how we got here, I wake up in a bed with a bunch of guys standin' over me while I'm in my fuckin' birthday suit, I get sexually assaulted, and then I end up hallucinating about some monster plant and a guy with dog ears! And then you sit me down and tell me _I'm in another world_? Where people have _magic powers_? That's a bunch of story-book bullshit, and you know it, Raze!"

Duo was understandably having a hard time listening. We'd been in the room for over an hour, trying to comprehend what was being said. Duo, unsurprisingly had been the first to denounce the story as crap, followed closely by Wufei. Quatre was trying his hardest to take it in stride, to restrain himself, and Trowa was acting similarly. I had yet to say anything, mostly because I had been trying to remember if Dr. J had ever mentioned anything about inter-dimensional travel being possible.

That and I had been thinking about Duo for a _really_ long time.

"You know, coming from the boy who claims to have been attacked by a _plant_, that sounds a little foolish" A quiet voice drawled contemptuously. "Maybe you should let one of your friends argue the point, _Duo_, as you seem rather prone to spin fantastic tales, yourself." The braided boy glared over at the corner, violet eyes narrowed. Kyo was leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, and he graced the look ferocious look Duo shot him with a sneer of his own. Duo opened his mouth, no doubt prepared to spit back an acidic retort, when Razyo cut him off.

"Kyo. Come on, please?" The black-haired teen's face softened a little. He looked over at the pleading boy, sighed, and looked away. Razyo smiled a little. "Thank you." The smaller boy turned to us. "I know this sounds strange, and I can't imagine what it must be like for you all, but you gotta understand-"

"We don't _gotta_ understand nothin'! This! Makes! No sense! Sorry, pal, but you can take this gagged up story 'a yours and shove it up yer ass, cuz I'm not-"

"Sit on it, Duo!" Raz exploded, clearly fed up with trying to be patient. "Can you imagine what it was like for us, to watch five bodies literally drop outta the sky! Granted, yeah, we knew there were other worlds, but no one was prepared for that! We didn't know who or what you were! You aren't the only one having trouble adjusting to the fact that you're here, alright!" He turned to look around at each of us. "Look, I don't know what to do, other than take you to Urai and have h-"

"What's Urai?" Wufei demanded. His head was wrapped in some sort of green bandage and his arm was in a sling. He still had his trademark look on his face, the one that Duo teasingly referred to as "I just sucked a lemon and I hated it, but that is beside the point, as I have done justice," but he looked uncomfortable.

"Urai's the head healer of tre Kaeido. She'll read you and… gods, I don't know. But we'll sort this out. Somehow." He sighed heavily and stood, swaying on his feet a little. He seemed tired suddenly, deflated. "Damn," he whispered. "Damn, damn, damn…." Kyo noticed the boy's state and immediately pushed himself off the wall.

"All of you get up. We're going to the temple to figure this out. I don't want to hear anything, just get up and come on." He said this in a voice that left no room for argument, so we did as we were told. I watched as Kyo went to the front of our little procession and put a comforting hand on Raz's shoulder, whispering something unintelligible. The green-haired boy blushed and muttered his thanks. Were they…?

I fell in step with Trowa once we were outside the building. "Hey." He turned to me and sighed.

"I this making _any_ sense to you, Yuy?" I shook my head as we headed through an arched doorway that led to a fight of stairs.

"Which parts? The part where we're trapped in some other dimension, where people possess magic powers? Or the one that we're trapped in some other dimension, where people possess magic powers and there's a possibility that we do, too?" He shrugged as we exited the staircase, stepping into the most lush, elaborate garden I'd ever seen.

"Mmm, both I guess." He said, as we took a short walk through the beautiful lawns to a building that looked similar to a temple. Kyo and Razyo came to a halt in front of the door and turned to us. They conferred for a brief moment before Kyo shrugged, touched his chest, his lips, and his forehead (…whatever that meant), and stepped through the open door.

"Nope. Not an ounce."

Still standing near the doorway, Razyo sighed and shifted uncomfortably. "What's wrong now?" Duo demanded waspishly, still clearly irritated. Razyo shook his head and backed up.

"Nothing. Urai's just… she doesn't like bein' interrupted while she's busy. Oh, and before I forget, Urai's nice, but she gets temperamental with strangers, so here's some ground rules." He looked around conspiratorially, and beckoned us over. "Number one: _do not talk_ unless she asks you a question." Wufei snorted. "I know with you guys not knowing what's goin' on, that'll be hard, but trust me, it's for the best. Just… don't speak unless spoken to." He shook his head and sighed. "Rule number two: don't make eye contact with her. You guys aren't citizens, and you haven't been confirmed as elementals, or even mages, yet, and it's impolite for an outsider to look a Temple Head in the eye, so don't. Rule number th-"

"_Wait a minute_," Wufei interjected. The other three pilots and myself sighed collectively. Here we go. "What's all this about my not being able to look some woman in the eye? It's wrong to have a woman as a man's superior. All these societies cropping up, feeling the need to make women and men equals. They are not and will never be, and I- by NatAKU, WHAT IS _THAT_!" I turned in the direction he was pointing.

I'm not going to say I screamed. Screaming isn't masculine.

I did, however yell and throw myself as far from the doorway as I could. Wufei… _yelled_ and ran like hell towards me, white as a sheet. Duo had jumped about a foot in the air and went to cower behind Razyo (who, for some reason, looked amused), raving about how he "fuckin' told us so, gaddammit, there really was a plant monster, we shoulda listened to him, and now we were all gonna be fertilizer for this fucking Satanic weed!", while Quatre fell in a dead faint into the arms of Trowa, who looked like he wanted to cry.

I hoped he didn't, because that'd mean that I'd be getting the OK to do it as well. And crying was no more masculine than screaming.

The giant Venus flytrap-looking thing in the doorway seemed to regard us all before it… noticed Duo shaking like a leaf behind Raze. The creature seemed to smile (don't ask, that's just what it seemed like to me) before it somehow maneuvered its roots so that it was moving towards him. Dear God, Duo had been right!

What a frightening thought.

I was ready to go rescue my beloved loudmouthed baka, to tear the plant apart for menacing him, when I realized I couldn't move.

My limbs felt numb, thick, and heavy. Dead. I panicked, realizing that I wouldn't be able to do anything, should the plant decide Duo tasted as good as he looked.

"Kisama!" I turned my eyes to see that Wufei was in a similar predicament, completely immobile. A quick glance to my left showed me that Trowa was also forced to endure lying frozen beneath Quatre (though, I'm not sure he really had any problem with that). So, dammit, we were all paralyzed and meanwhile, Duo was being molested.

What the hell? I thought we left shit like this back in the war!

The braided boy let out an odd gurgling sound and began backing away. I didn't have time to wonder how it was that Duo could move, while we couldn't. "Oh, please," he whimpered. "Oh, pleaseohpleaseohpleaseohpleaseplease_please_somebodydosomethingbeforeiteatsmeeeaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

The plant had managed to sidle up to Duo and was in the process of twining its vines around his arms. It pulled the screaming (yes, Duo, I'm sorry, but you were _screaming_) boy into itself and licked him. It. _Licked_. Him. With a tongue. Which is something plants are NOT supposed to have!

I was about to scream, masculinity be damned, when Razyo burst into laughter.

Now, please, imagine the situation: There were six of us, nearly grown men. Two of us, Wufei and myself, were standing immobile as rocks, and about as responsive, in the middle of a lovely garden pathway. One of us, Trowa, lay completely helpless on the grass under Quatre, who was still unconscious. Duo sat curled up in the corner of the doorway with vines wrapped around his arms, crying, while some behemoth carnivorous plant licked his face with a tongue it _wasn't supposed to have_ (sorry, I just couldn't get over that) was preparing to eat him.

And our self-proclaimed guide, Razyokai Lai'Isala, was doubled over, laughing so hard he wasn't breathing properly.

It went without saying that we were a little frustrated.

"Razyo, what the hell are you doing, help him!" Wufei snarled from behind me. The younger boy looked up at him, tears streaming down his face, looked back to Duo, tried to talk, and lost it all over again. I glanced over at Trowa to see that he was torn between staying on the ground with Quatre between his legs, or thrashing Razyo for laughing at such a dire situation when he should be trying to save Duo, who was now wailing at the top of his lungs.

_I_ was about to give the green-haired boy a piece of my mind when the doorway darkened.

Kyo was standing there, looking more than a little pissed, with a tiny middle-aged woman. She had graying blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and looked to be, quite possibly, one of the most formidable people I've ever encountered.

"Really, 'Bera, that's enough, you're scaring him," the woman snapped. The plant turned and released Duo, who immediately ran to me and threw himself at my chest (if only the circumstances were different…). And it _grinned_. I stared. No, I wasn't hallucinating, the thing actually smiled revealing rows of needlelike teeth. And then it spoke.

It. Spoke.

"Was just playing with him, Master. Like him 'lots, yes."

I stood there, feeling ready to check myself into an asylum, while Duo shrieked and began trying his damndest to climb on top of my shoulders.

Now, Duo wasn't a very large person, and even if he was, I would have easily been able to support his weight. However, due to the fact that he decided used my crotch as a foothold, I went down hard with him astride me. I watched in mute horror as the plant ambled over to us. I could dimly hear Wufei and Trowa ranting at Razyo (who was _still_ laughing!), and Quatre was still dead to the world. Kyo, of course, was silent.

"He is… green, yes?" the plant rasped. THE_ PLANT _RASPED! God, there were so many things _wrong_ with this situation!

The only person I'd ever been sexually attracted to was squirming around on top of me I couldn't manage to find it arousing because I was too busy being terrified of the colossal, licking plant that had just walked over to talk to us.

A colossal plant with a tongue had just

Walked over

To talk to us.

There was a walking, talking plant with a tongue in existence, in this world.

I said 'this world', meaning I had just pretty much accepted everything Razyo said to be the truth.

Shit.

"Yes, he is Sukibera." She looked down at Duo and I and smiled cryptically. "I believe all five of them are _elements_, in fact," she said while shooting a relatively dirty look in Kyo's direction. Kyo's face darkened for some reason. "_Mr. Jarael_, Mr. Lai'Isala, please take the boys to the Drawing Chamber. I need to gather the apprentices and the Elders." Suddenly, she turned to the dark-haired boy at her side. "Kyokeido, I don't _care_ to hear anything you have to say on the matter, just do as I said!" she snapped.

And here I thought I'd known what authority sounded like.

The blue-eyed boy scowled darkly, but said nothing. Razyo went and put a hand on his angered friend's shoulder. "Come on, guys, Urai's already reversed the effects of the spores, you can get up any time," he called, motioning to us. He turned, smiling, to Kyo. "Ready? 'S been a while since we've seen a Drawing, huh, Kyo-kido?" The taller boy tossed his head and grunted noncommittally. I noticed the others coming out of their respective slumps (Quatre was conscious enough to feign unconsciousness, since he noticed it was Trowa who was holding him.) Wufei was still a little pale, and was still shooting Razyo dirty looks, but he seemed fine.

I looked down at the gleaming chestnut head on my chest. "Can you move, Duo?" I asked, though I would have loved more than anything to have him stay there forever.

"Yeah," he muttered as he rolled off. "Sorry fer usin' yer nads as a ladder, there, buddy," he apologized as he stood, obviously uneasy, keeping a cautious eye on the plant. I shook my head, forgiving him, and helped him up, then directed my gaze to the woman, who I assumed was Urai. She turned to Duo.

"Don't worry, boy, he won't do anything to you. Sukibera is bound to me, and I won't allow him to eat any of my prospective students." Duo nodded, though still clearly still wary and very confused.

"So, y-yer a nice plant then, eh?" he asked in a quavering voice. It nodded furiously. I swear, if it were a dog, its tail would have been wagging. "OK, then w-we-we can b-be, uh, f-f-friends, right?" He extended a trembling hand to the creature, the smile on his face so forced it looked painful. The plant smiled (damn it, that was so bizarre) and wormed its way closer to Duo.

"Yes. Good. Like you." It said. For the second time I'd seen, it slid it's long blue-green tongue out and trailed it up the side of Duo's contorted, shock-pale face. "Taste so good." It licked him again, slowly this time, and I could see he was shuddering. "Duo. Could eat you up…." It opened its cavernous mouth very wide, displaying its millions of cruel, needle-sharp teeth.

"Maybe he doesn't get enough sleep," Raze laughed as Duo collapsed bonelessly in my arms. Kyo snorted.

"Maybe he's more a nerveless onna than Winner," Wufei teased, shooting a pointed look at the blond nestled in Trowa's arms.

"Hey," Trowa and I warned simultaneously.

**:ooooo:**

Duo:

There were many words that described how I felt.

Ashamed. Degraded. Embarrassed. Despondent. Shitty. Confused (as all hell!). Yeah, and those were just the big words. There were plenty more.

Damn, I couldn't get over it. Three times! I'd managed to keel over _three times_ in one day. I don't know that I passed out that many times during the entire war!

We were sitting on the floor of a large room in the temple-place, waiting for the old woman to come back. Things were pretty tense, as 'Fei, Heero, Trowa, and I were all pissed at Raz for not saving me, and Kyo was pissed at us for being pissed at him. And poor Quatre was clueless.

"For the fiftieth time, Duo, you weren't in any danger. I wouldn't have laughed at you if you were." I turned my nose up at him. Jerk.

"I would have," Kyo deadpanned. Bastard.

Razyo looked scandalized. "Kyo!" he exclaimed. The older boy shrugged elegantly. Fancy bastard.

"What?" he snapped. Raz struggled to find words, then gave up, shoulders slumping.

"Nothing, nevermind," he sighed. He turned hesitantly to the four of us. "I promise, Duo, I wouldn't've been laughing if you'd been in any danger." He spared Kyo a dark look. "Really, Bera's a kitten, he'd never hurt anybody, especially a-" he paused. "A gorgeous guy like you." He smiled ingratiatingly. I scowled, but it was half-hearted.

Damn him and his ego-boosting words.

"Fine, whatever. But still man… another world? Is this just so un-" Suddenly, the door of the room flew open.

"On your feet," Kyo hissed, standing. He exchanged a look with Raze and they left. We all did as we were told, and watched as people began filing into the room.

As they continued to stream into the room, nervous speculations about who the five of us were began floating in the air. I heard everything from new students to demons. And apparently, several people were under the impression that I was a girl. Assholes.

I slowly inched closer to the others, trying not to draw any extra attention to my girly self. "Is it just me, Quat, or are you still confused, too? You are, right?" He sighed, looking up at me.

"Well I…. Allah, I don't know, Duo. I don't want to believe it, I mean, the whole idea of being in another dimension is totally fucked," (I started at Q's use of the word "fucked;" I'm so clearly rubbing off on him) "but I can see Razyo's heart, and he's not lying." He sighed again. "Duo he's not lying."

Needless to say, I was disgruntled. I really like that word. Disgruntled. So what if Raz didn't deem to be lying, for all we knew, he was crazy. "Quat…." He shrugged and shook his head.

"I don't know what else to say, Duo. Razyo's not lying. And you've seen all the crazy stuff here! That plant?" I shuddered. I did _not_ want to think about that damned thing, and the fact that two of the times I'd fainted were because of that spore-laden monstrosity. "I mean, we're obviously not in that forest right now, but I don't… know. I just don't know anymore, Duo."

"Yeah, but Quat-"

"Silence," a strong voice called out. The chatter ceased and I looked up to see an old man standing in the midst of the crowd. And when I say old, man, I mean _old_, I mean, this guy looked like my fingers after a few hours in the bathtub. The five of us huddled together as he looked around. "As you have already been informed, the five boys before you are to participate in a Drawing. They have come here from another time, and, until further notice, will be attending the seminary with all of you. I expect you will all grant them a warm welcome," he said, treating them to a severe look. "As soon as Lady Urai returns with the Key to the Ether Weir, they will be Confirmed, and they will Draw."

Hm. I didn't like the way that sounded. To me, that sounded like that story where everyone in the village drew a piece of paper out of a box, and if there was a certain mark on the paper, they were stoned to death. And I'd be damned if I was going to die at the hands of some wrinkly old man I didn't know before I even understood what the hell was going on!

Or before I turned twenty-one.

Or before I screwed Heero. Whichever came first.

I was about to raise my hand, and ask what the fucking hell was going on, when the door opened again, this time revealing a disgruntled (man, I really love that word!)-looking Kyo, a grinning Razyo, and that Urai lady. Kyo was carrying a black wooden box with five small glass balls inside, and Razyo was carrying a similar black box containing a large silver key. In Urai's arms was a red satin pillow, and on that pillow was a golden scepter with some archaic designs all over it.

Ooookaaayy…, so all _that_ stuff didn't fit into my whole "they're gonna kill us" theory all that well. But, hey, you never know. There are some weird people in the world.

The woman strode to the middle of the room with the two boys flanking her, the turned to face the five of us poor, confused, (pissed off!) Gundam boys. She looked at each of us slowly. Taking us in, I guess.

"Your names please." We looked at each other stupidly before silently agreeing to go in numerical order.

"Heero Yuy."

"Uhh, Duo Maxwell."

"Trowa Barton."

"Quatre Raberba Winner." (Agrh, that middle name drives me nuts! Is that even Arabic?)

"Ch- Wufei Chang."

The woman nodded and looked up. "Will the Elders please step forward. We will now begin the Confirmation."

_What the hell is this, Catholic School? _I thought, as several men and women who were varying degrees of _old_ came in around us.

"Ah, excuse me, Ms. Lady Urai?" I whispered. She turned, and I knew I'd just made a huge mistake when Razyo's eyes got very big and Kyo grinned evilly. God, that guy was _such_ _a bastard_! "Um, nevermind, forget I said anything, sorry." But, to my surprise, she smiled at me. And I knew this was a good thing when Razyo grinned in relief and Kyo scowled. Ha! Suck it, Kyo! (…On second thought, don't, cuz you might be a cold, hard-assed bastard, but you're still really, really hot, and I'd like it a lot more than I wanted to.)

"I know this is all happening very fast," damn right it was, lady! "but you will understand soon enough, now hush." She looked to the elderly people around us. "We are now ready to begin the Endowment Confirmation."

_Excuse me?_ _Endowment_? Endowment as in…. …!

Oh, boy.

She picked the scepter off the pillow. "Mr. Heero Yuy," she called. I blanched. No, not my Heero! As he walked fearlessly towards her, I swore to myself that, old woman or no, if she hurt one hair on his gorgeous head (or came anywhere _near_ his endowment!), she was gonna die, Shinigami-style. She regarded Heero for a moment before placing the staff gently on one of his shoulders, and her hand on the other. She closed her eyes, seeming to be waiting for something. And, seeing as we had nothing else to do, we waited, too.

And waited and waited and waited.

I stood there on pins and needles, ready to pounce on the woman should Heero even start _blinking_ funny, but nothing happened. Heero looked around at the circle of grizzled faces, and then back to Urai, noticeably confused. Hell, I would be, too, if some old woman put some ancient rod-thing on my shoulder, then stood around with her geriatric friends, while they waited for something to happen.

He had just opened his mouth, when the scepter suddenly glowed and bathed him in a brilliant silver-white light. Heero glanced fretfully around at the rest of us, eyes wide. Urai smiled and stepped back. "Congratulations, Heero," she whispered. "Alchemist, Air mage."

_What_?

Scattered applause and chatter started up, and continued until Urai waved her arms. She looked back to Heero and gestured to an open door. "Young mage, you may go into the Drawing Chamber and wait there until your friends join you."

…Mage? Alchemist? Air? _What the hell…?_

He looked at us again, still uncertain, but headed through the door anyway. God, he was so brave. …'Course, if he dropped dead behind that door, it wouldn't really matter how brave he had been, now, would it? No. In fact… damn, why were we listening to this woman? What was she doing? Where did she just send Heero? What-

"Mr. Wufei Chang," Urai called.

Damn it, I was back to not being able think about anything without being interrupted again!

Wufei took a deep breath, closed his eyes and stepped forward. He looked questioningly into the woman's eyes and she smiled at him, repeating the same process with him as she did with Heero. However, it didn't take nearly as long for him to be engulfed in a bright yellow light. Wufei looked shocked, as though he hadn't already seen this happen, and Urai grinned at him. "Light. Please join your friend in the Drawing Chamber." As Wufei stumbled off in the direction of the door, I began to wonder just how in the hell that scepter managed to do that, and what it all meant-

"Mr. Trowa Barton." Gaddammit! Trowa gulped and spared a surreptitious glance at Quatre (awww!), before stepping up. Once again, Urai placed the rod on his shoulders, and once again it radiated brilliant light, this time a deep blood red. Urai smiled her tiny, secretive smile again. "And Fire for you, Mr. Barton." She pointed to the door, and Trowa, though clearly confused, complied silently. What the hell was going _on_! She turned back to Quat and me, who were now nervous as hell.

"Duo Maxwell," she purred. Hey, how come she didn't call me Mr.? I walked towards her, but stopped short, eyeing the rod warily.

"Is it gonna hurt?" I asked. Hey, what, it could! Heero, Wu, and Trowa were all the strong, silent, "you'll never know if I'm feeling pain or not" types, so I wouldn't know.

Urai shook her head, smiling. "No, Duo, it won't hurt."

"You promise?" Kyo, Raz and a few of the people around me were giving me the "you're so dense, Duo" look, but I didn't care, I didn't wanna get hurt!

"Yes." I frowned and looked deep into her eyes.

"You sure?"

"Yes, Duo." She was starting to sound a little irritated, but, to ensure my safety, I pursued.

"Yeah, but are you posit-"

Urai huffed, yanked me forward, and slapped the staff down on my shoulder. Immediately, the staff glowed (you guessed it) GREEN, and I was surrounded in the accompanying light.

…And it didn't hurt.

The woman spun me roughly around and shoved me none too-gently in the direction of the door. "Just as I thought. Green. Now, go." I walked backwards and saw her smile (warmly) at Quatre, watched as she placed the scepter (gently) on his shoulders. After a few seconds, the staff emitted a bright blue light, and Urai smiled. "Water. Welcome, Quatre." She shooed him in my direction and turned to address the crowd. "Now that all five boys have been Confirmed with The Gift, we will commence the Drawing, if they so choose to proceed with it. If the Elders and the heads of each Element class would please step forward, I would like to have a brief word with you." Quatre and I watched as several younger people disentangled themselves from the crowd and stood before Urai. What was happening?

I sent Quatre a look. _What the hell's going on? God, I'm so confused! Hey, whaddya say we stay out here and listen in on this top-secret conversation, huh?_ He sent me one back.

_Duo, what the hell did you just say?_

"Oh, and Duo, Quatre, dears, if you would be so kind as to follow my previous directions and _get in the Chamber_?" Eep, we'd been spotted! The two of us scampered through the doorway, into the room where the others were waiting.

The room was relatively large, candlelit, and somewhat forbidding, with regal-looking furniture all over the place. In the center of the room was a large well, made of polished black stones. Over top of the well was a golden lid-type thing, with a small hole in the middle. The lid had all sorts of strange designs scrawled on it, the most prominent one being a large, open eye. Ha. Creepy.

On a less ominous note, there was a large bay window that looked out onto a beautiful, sparkling lake that I'd somehow failed to notice on the way to this building of the temple. Huh. I must've been distracted.

Maybe by the two boys trying to tell me I was in another world, or something?

In the corner of the room was an enormous black stand-alone closet that appeared to be locked, if the ornate silver clasp on the double doors was anything to go by. What, they didn't trust us not to go lookin' in their stuff?

Well, well, well….

I was running a hand over my braid, feeling for the lock picks I kept in it, wondering if maybe, yanno, I should brush up on a few skills, when Trowa (interrupted my damn thoughts!) called.

"Hey…." I looked up to see him standing with his arms crossed in the middle of the room. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, blinking, shifting uncomfortably. I could tell what he wanted to ask, and was about to reply when Quatre beat me to it.

"She said Duo was green, and I'm water." The little blond sighed and went to the window. "Allah, what does that _mean_?"

"Who the hell cares what they say it _means_, Winner?" came Wufei's sharp reply. I turned to him, shocked that he'd snap at Quatre like that.

"'Fei, come on, man, he was just-"

"You shut up, Maxwell, it's your fault we're here in the first place!"

Hold up, now, what!

I dog-eyed him. "Hang on, what the fuck's 'at supposed to mean! How the hell is any 'a this _my_ fault?" He sneered at me.

"_You_ had to go into that cave, Maxwell! _You_ had to touch the water, _you_ had to get us involved with these people, it's _YOUR_ fault!"

Whaa! I'm all for taking responsibility for your actions, but where was he _pulling_ all this shit from?

"Wufei, please, stop it, you can't possibly bl-" Now's not the time for pacifism, Quat!

"What the fuck, Wu! It's not like I forced you to do anything! And whaddya mean '_I_ got us involved with these people'? How'd _I_ manage do that!"

We'd been steadily moving towards each other, and were now literally nose to nose. Or, at least we would be if I were a couple inches taller. "You tryin' ta tell me that 1.) you actually believe all this shit, and 2.) you think _I'm _responsible for it!" I gave him my best evil glare. (It seemed to have no effect.) "Well, tell ya what, you can go fuck yourself with the stick you already got shoved up yer ass, Wu. Don't know what your malfunction is lately. Blame me if you want to, see if-"

"That's enough, both of you!" Wufei and I were roughly shoved away from each other by two strong arms. I glared mutinously up at Trowa, ready to chew him out, too, for coming between us.

…Except, he looked a helluva lot menacing than I'd seen him in a long time….

I decided to change tactics, and turned my flaming gaze to Wufei, who seemed to have had same idea. "I know you're frustrated, we all are, but you don't see us fighting each other about it! This place is weird, granted, so we're all we've got right now. Nobody wants or needs to hear you two arguing, so save your bitching until after we figure out what the fuck's going on, alright!" Quatre showed his approval of this idea by standing next to the tall boy.

Wufei and I looked around our domineering friend, to each other. I stuck my nose in the air, saying without words that there was no way I was gonna speak first.

'Fei sighed heavily and hung his head. "I apologize, Duo. I allowed this place to get the better of me, and as a result, I have acted dishonorably. I truly am sorry; I had no right to accuse you of anything, and I was wrong for doing so." I snorted.

"Damn straight, you were wrong for doin' so, ya dick."

"Duo!" Quatre barked from his spot at Trowa's side. Backstabbing little….

"Fine, fine, yeah, I'm sorry fer… whatever, there." Quatre fixed me with a withering stare.

"Fine, jeez, Quat! Wu, I'm sorry for defending myself from you while you were being a complete and total asshole to me and Quat." He nodded to me, and I turned away, done with the conversation. Quatre sighed, realizing that that was the best I was willing to do, and went back to the window. Trowa flopped down into a high-backed chair, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, clearly exhausted. Yeah, well, if he hadn't gotten between me and Wu, he wouldn't be tired, so I didn't feel sorry for him in the least. Wufei ambled off towards the door, waiting for Urai to enter and explain what was going on to us.

My thinking about what the others had just done reminded me of the fact that Heero had been absent from that little exchange. You're probably wondering how I could manage to forget about the most beautiful man in the world, huh?

So was I.

"Hey, Hee-chan?" I called, looking around for him. Ah, God, what if something happened to him! What if they were planning to execute us, and the method they'd chosen was some sort of poison gas? Heero had come in here first, and Trowa was looking pretty beat. Dear Lord, they were gonna kill us after all. Oh, my Heero-

"I said 'what is it, Duo?'!'" came a fierce whisper.

Oh.

"Hey, man where are you?" I began searching for him again. I saw a hand shoot up from the other side of the well. From the ground.

Uhhh….

"Hey, buddy," I started, rounding the well. I stopped when I saw him. "Uh, whatcha doin' down there?" He was lying on the ground, flat on his stomach, with his ear pressed up against the side of the black structure. He would have looked adorable, pouting like that, with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, if it wasn't so strange that he was lying on the floor of a temple, listening to a well.

"Shut up," he muttered, shifting and frowning deeper. Well, fine then.

I stood there watching him for a while, until I couldn't take it anymore.

"H-"

"Damn," he murmured, rolling onto his back.

"-eero, what're- oh. Hey, what's wrong?" He looked up at me and sighed, sitting up.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," he said with a small smile. I gave him a lopsided grin of my own, and extended my hand.

"No I won't. You didn't think I was crazy when I told you I'd been manhandled by an overgrown weed, did you?" He looked ready to correct me, but didn't. "C'mon, fess up Yuy, what is it?" Heero sighed and took my hand, pulling himself up.

"I…. Ahn, this sounds so _stupid_, but…" he looked back to the well, shaking his head. "I… I thought I head voices in that well." He looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to agree and say he was nuts. But, not only was he too gorgeous for me to call crazy, I believed him. Kinda.

…OK, well, not really, but hell, when you took into consideration everything else that had happened in this place so far, voices in a well didn't sound all that unbelievable.

"See? I told you." I shook my head.

"Naw, it's not that bad. I mean, there could be people down there, it _is_ possible, when you think about it." He smiled that super-sexy smile of his and my heart stopped working. Oh, I'd _kill_ for that smile!

"Hn. Thanks, Duo," he purred, walking away.

Heck yes! Heero Yuy had just _purred_ his thanks to me! Oh, life was good!

But, as looked around, I remembered where I was (or, where I was, supposedly,) and quickly amended that thought.

Life was hideously, morbidly ironic and I hated it.

It had been about ten minutes since mine and Wuffie's little spat, and the five of us were all off in our separate little worlds and thoughts when I re-discovered the big vault. I glared at it, as though it was the cause of all my problems. "Damned stupid closet," I snarled with a vicious kick to the side of it.

While I hopped around on one foot, cursing and trying to cradle my stubbed toe, I heard a small, metallic echo sound inside the closet. Hmmm, wonder what that could be. "Bet it's weapons," I muttered to myself as I limped in a circle around the vault. "Yeah, that's it, they're weapons." I stopped prowling and stood in front of it, nodding in agreement to myself. "We're probably going to have to fight our way outta here. They're gonna make us fight to the death, and only the winner gets to get out of this nightmare." I cursed. "God, I hope I don't have to fight Heero, I'd never be able to hurt him. I'd end up having to let him kill me, I'd have to. No. …Wait, what?" There was a laugh from behind me.

"You know, they say that's a sign of insanity, Duo," Raz chuckled as I whirled around. Tuning back into the world around me, I noticed that Urai, those old people, and the kids Quatre and I saw called were standing in a corner of the room with the others, waiting expectantly for something. Razyo kept smiling, and quirked an eyebrow, and it was then that I realized how very far away I was from them.

_Oh_.

I scuttled over to the awaiting group and took my place at Heero's side (where I belonged). Urai sat in the center of the circle next to the old man from before, with an amused, patient smile on her face. "Well, now that we are all present," she began with a significant glance in my direction, "we can commence the Drawing." She looked around at each of us. "Before we even ask, do any of you boys have any questions?" All at once, six hands shot into the air. She chuckled. "Alright, Quatre." I grumbled and put both of mine down.

The small blond cleared his throat and looked around nervously. "Ah, uhm, I was just wondering, before we make you all go through with this ceremony process, you say we are in a world other than the one we came from, right?" Urai nodded. "Well, if we could come here from another world, can't we go back to our own time?" The old man hung his head.

"Alas, boy, there have been very few who can control the gateways to other dimensions, and as far as we know, no one in this land possesses that power. Even most demons cannot control it." I clenched my fist.

"Dammit, are you tellin' me there's no way we can get back home? That we're stuck here in… wherever here is?" Urai nodded sadly.

"I am afraid so, Duo. Portals rarely travel to the same dimension twice in a row. For you to attempt to go back through the one from whence you came, you risk falling into a world even more radically different than this one, and there is no guarantee it would be as pleasant. Or habitable, as I assume you all are mortal children." Mortal as opposed to what? Now, I had a question.

"Alright, Lady, tell me this: why do you keep talking about demons and magic? Inter-dimensional travel is one thing, but magic? I stopped believing in that when I was, like, five." Yeah, kids who grew up on the streets of L2 forgot about magic and fairytales real quick.

Urai nodded knowingly. "I expected that you boys came from a world without magic. Would you like further proof that magic exists? And that you do, indeed, possess different elemental affinities?" We looked around uncertainly at one another. Did we really want to know the truth about this place? Did we really want to risk being proven wrong?

"Yes." Apparently, Wufei did. He sat, scowling, with his arms folded over his chest, glaring daggers at the people surrounding us. Urai smiled at him.

"Very well. Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to your new siblings." She gestured to the five youths in the half-circle. "My grandson, Kyokeido Jarael, Head of the Water Temple."

_GYAH_! Kyo was her _grandson_! How could Urai, who seemed to be quite possibly one of the coolest old ladies out there, have been in any way involved in the spawning of that little shitlouse! Ignorant of my disdainful thoughts about her grandson, Urai continued. "Quatre, he will be your Brother and trainer while you attend the seminary." Kyo stepped forward and handed Quatre one of the small glass spheres he'd been holding earlier.

"Just hold onto that," he said, plopping down on the floor next to his new (noticeably uneasy) 'Brother.' "You'll find out what to do with it in a minute." Quatre nodded and held the bauble in one hand.

Meanwhile, Urai continued. "Seiren Amathus, Head of the Earth Temple." A good-looking young man with longish black hair and soft brown eyes stepped forward, smiling. "Mr. Yuy, he will be your Brother and trainer in the areas of alchemy and the manipulation of your Gift, which is Air." Seiren extended an elegant hand to Heero.

"It's nice to meet you," he chirped, still smiling. Yeah, he chirped. His persona didn't fit his looks all that well. Heero eyed him warily and shook the offered hand.

"Uh, yeah, likewise." Seiren handed Heero one of the little glass balls as he sat down next to him.

Urai nodded. "Mr. Chang. I would like to introduce you to the Head of your element, the only female in the Temple of Light, Ms. Shoria Lai'Isala." Wufei's eyes got impossibly large. Oh, no….

The girl who stepped forward was very petite and undeniably pretty, with long golden-brown hair and bright silver eyes. She smiled at Wufei and held out her hand. "Hello, Wufei," she said amiably. Wufei took a deep (cleansing) breath and turned away, ignoring the offer.

"No." Shoria cocked her head.

"Sorry?" Her voice sounded almost dangerous.

Wufei glared at her, nonplussed by her deadly tone. "I said no. I refuse to be subject to the whims of an onna. Please put me in another temple, Urai." Urai shook her head.

"I am sorry, Wufei, you are a Light mage, and as such, this is your Head. She will tutor you and hel-"

"NO! I will _not_ be placed in a position where a woman has authority ov-"

**SMACK**!

Oh, shit!

Wufei's head was still snapped to the side, his cheek already starting to turn red from the impact of Shoria's hand.

She gave Wufei a look that could have curdled milk, before sitting down next to him. Then, she smiled brightly and extended her hand once again. "Hello, Wufei. I hope you and I will can along nicely during your stay here." Her expression darkened once more. "With _me_ as your trainer."

Still in shock, Wufei took her hand and shook it dazedly. She beamed at him, handed him the ball, and then turned her attention to Urai, who was fighting a smirk. The other Elders looked impassive as ever.

"Damn it, Shori, you really need to stop doin' that." Raz mumbled, cradling his face in his hands, and looking mortified.

"She does stuff like that a lot?" I asked. Razyo nodded miserably.

"Damn near every day. She's always been like this." I winced.

"Yeah?" He nodded again. "To you?" Nod. "_Shit_." Nod. "How long've you known her?" He glanced up at me, smiling.

"Uh, most 'a my life. She's my baby sister, Duo." Oh! I looked back to the small smiling girl, picking up on the fact that she did look like him; they had the same eyes.

"Duo," Urai called. I looked at her and smiled charmingly.

"Yes ma'am?" She rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"I don't really need to introduce you to your Temple Head, as you seem to know him so well already. Razyokai, I trust you will take good care of him." I gawped. _Raz_ was in a position of _authority_ here?

The boy grinned and held his hand out, giving me one of the little orbs. "Absolutely, my Lady."

I smiled as he sat down next to me, but I was still trying to swallow the fact that Mr. I-Hope-You-Don't-Mind-My-Trying-To-Get-Down-Your-Pants-In-The-First-Meeting was going to be in charge of me. Geez, it must not take very much to become Head of these Temples.

"Last, but not least, Taiga Daelian, Head of the Fire Temple, you will be tutoring your new Brother, Trowa Barton." The last boy stepped forward, holding out a slender hand.

A slender, _clawed_ hand.

"A pleasure to meet you, Trowa," he said in a quiet voice. My head snapped up as I recognized that voice. _"Hn, he's feisty, no?"_

Taiga. Yep, I even recognized the name. The red-haired boy stood smiling next to a poleaxed Trowa, his bushy tail swishing back and forth, both ears cocked forward.

I looked around at my friends to see what the expressions on their faces were. Heero was about as stunned-looking as he got; the only reason I could even tell he was surprised was because I'd spent so much time memorizing his facial expressions (when he wasn't looking, of course), I noticed the slight widening of his eyes, and the miniscule tell-tale tick in his left eyebrow. Quatre was openly staring, mouth open, eyes the size of dinner plates. Wufei's mouth was a thin scar on his pale face.

Yep, they were shocked.

Trowa shook his head as if to clear it and took Taiga's hand. "Yes, a pleasure," he said numbly. Urai must have noticed our faces, because she began laughing, as did the old dude next to her.

"I suppose you are wondering about young Master Daelian's appearance, yes?" We all nodded mutely. She looked to the boy, and he smiled and shrugged.

"I'm half demon. My father was a fox-demon, and my mother was a mage. As you can see, I ended up with both my parents' looks." He smiled ruefully, and tugged at his pointed ear. "I apologize if I've made any of you uncomfortable." Quatre shook his head vigorously.

"No! It's not anything like that, we're just… like Lady Urai said before, we're not used to magic or… demons, or anything like that. It just caught us off-guard, that's all, there's nothing wrong with you!"

Well, that wasn't exactly _my_ opinion of the matter, but I decided to keep my tongue to myself.

Unless Heero wanted to share it, that was.

"Speaking of us not understanding magic, Urai, what became of proving to us that it exists? That we possess it?"

Urai nodded in Wufei's direction. "Forgive me, Master Chang, I merely wanted you to meet the those who will be helping you develop those powers." She made her way to the black well in the center of the room. "Heero, Quatre, Wufei, Duo, Trowa, you all have the orbs they gave you, yes?" We held them out for her to see. She nodded, even as she beckoned The Old Guy over to her. "This is Simon en Baelemar, Master of the Temples of Ran tre Kaeido. He will be providing instructions on what you are to do for the duration of the Drawing process. I wish you luck." Luck? We needed luck for whatever we were about to do with these little balls?

The man moved forwards so he was directly in front of the five of us. He held up a small globe of his own, only, instead of clear, like ours were, his was a swirling silvery-green. "Listen to me, all of you. You have three choices, to Draw from the Weir, no to Draw at all, or to wait until you are older, more mature in your powers. Make your decision quickly, but know this: once the orb is submerged in the Ether, it will be too late to go back." He looked around expectantly.

Too late to do what?

"Ah, look, gramps, we don't even know what the hell this whole Drawing thing's all about. What would we be choosing no to do?" He shook his head.

"Forgive me, I disremembered you five are not familiar with this. The point of the Drawing process is to find an amplifier to increase your powers. Inside that well there, is a portal into the demon world. For centuries, it has provided us with-"

"Wait, how come this one keeps on going to the demon world, or whatever? I thought you said portals wouldn't go to the same place twice?" I eyed the man doubtfully while he smiled at me.

"Yes, Duo, we did say that. But, we also said that there have been some mages and demons who can create and control portals. Thousands of years ago, a mage created this portal to facilitate the Drawing process for elemental mages in need of an amplifier." He said it as though that explained everything.

Um, it _didn't_.

"Mr. Baelemar," Quatre started quietly, "I'm sorry, but what… we still don't understand exactly _what_ it is that we're doing." He smiled warmly at the blushing boy. I wasn't real sure why he was blushing. That pansy. Gotta love 'im, though, that summed up one question I had.

"With the orbs you now possess, you will call a demon from the Ether. You must think only of yourself, your Gift, your physical strengths and weaknesses. If you succeed, you will draw a spirit with the capacity of greatly increasing your powers. However, the orb will cast a spell on itself and on the creature inside, to contain it. You will only be able to possess the demon's powers for yourselves if you can break the seal on the orb." He rolled up the sleeve of his billowing robe to reveal the skin beneath.

"Nice tattoo, gramps," I complimented as I eyed the intricate, tribal-looking design. Kyo's lips rose in a disgusted sneer. I wanted to slap him.

"It is the seal that was once on my own orb. If you can manage to break through the barrier, you will release your amplifier, and the orb's seal will be transferred to your body, and your demon's."

"So the demon will still have the spell on it, and it'll be bound to us, right?" I stared at Quatre. He was just jumping into the idea of this place way too fast for my liking.

Baelemar nodded. "That is correct. Whatever amplifier you have Drawn will be constrained to you, and you alone will have the power to control it." Heero looked up.

"What happens if we can't break the seal?" I snorted. As if Mr. Perfect Soldier _wouldn't_ be able to do something.

Baelemar shrugged. "Then the spirit you captured will be released back into the Ether."

"How would you determine whether or not a person was strong enough to break the seal? How long would we have?" Trowa pressed. Baelemar beckoned us to his side, next to the well.

"To break the orb, you simply have to will the demon to submit to you. It is a power struggle you will be entering into with the demon. If you cannot break it by the time you feel the demon's presence fading inside the orb, you will not be able to possess it." He held his hand out to Urai, and she placed the scepter into his open palm. He placed the head of the staff into the hole in the well's top, and it slid open, revealing… that damn watery-looking stuff we saw in the cave. So _that's _what that stuff was. Ether, or whatever. So, demons came from that, huh? Maybe that explained what Heero heard earlier.

"Hey, can you, like, re-Draw? You know, if you don't catch the right one the first time, you can put it back and get another one?" The man turned to me.

"No, I'm afraid not, Duo." Shit. "The Drawing is based on fate and destiny. If you cannot control the demon that was fated to you, then you were not meant to have an amplifier." I had just opened my mouth again when he held up a gnarled hand. "No more questions. Now you Draw, unless any of you have decided not to?"

I gulped. Did I want to do this? Was I ready to accept the fact that I was really in another world, where there were really cool old people and demons and magic and giant, man-eating, walking, talking plants?

"I'll do it." I sighed. Of course you will, Heero. The old guy eyed him.

"Let me say this again, you all do not have to Draw at all. Or, you may want to wait until you have better control of your powers, again, until you are older. I will reiterate: once you have attempted the Drawing once, you cannot again."

"In that case, I'll do it too," Trowa said, looking back at the remaining three of us challengingly. I growled. Well, if we were really doing this, there was no way I was gonna be last.

"I'll do it," Quatre and I said simultaneously.

Ah, well, least I wasn't last. I turned to Wufei. "C'mon, submit to peer pressure, Wu! Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, do-"

"Shut up, Maxwell, I'm coming!" he barked, stepping up to the well. I smiled obnoxiously at him.

"Alright, then, you have decided. But before you Draw, I will warn you boys: most demons will not take kindly to being Mastered, and breaking of the seal will most likely be very painful. Demons are not the type to take being Drawn lightly, as they know they will be bound to you as long as you live." He stepped back to look at us. "Are you sure you are willing to go through with this?" I sighed inwardly, and nodded with the others, finally giving up and admitting defeat. Baelemar nodded once again. "Then, the best of luck to you all." He motioned to the others, and they stood, heading towards the door. I saw Razyo mouth 'good luck' as he exited. "We will return shortly, and after that, you will be given a tour of your new home, and then properly welcomed." The man stepped through the door, and it closed with a loud thud.

And then there were five.

We stood there awkwardly for a moment, until Quatre sighed. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked. I shrugged and rolled up my sleeves.

"Well, gramps said we were s'posed to dip our balls in the water to lure the things to us, so I guess that's what we're gonna do." For a moment, there was dead silence, as everyone digested what I said.

Then everyone digested what I'd actually said, and we all fell apart. After our brief foray into delirium, we settled down, and stood there, looking back to the well.

And continued to stand there, continued to not take action.

I scratched my hand. Heero coughed. Quatre shifted from his left foot to his right. Trowa looked at Heero's shoe. Wufei contemplated justice (at least, that's what it looked like he was doing).

And still, we stood there.

How sad was this? Gundam pilots, grown men, were scared of a well! Damn, we were pathetic!

Not one to allow anyone to call me pathetic (even myself), I went to the side of the well and boldly plunged my hand through the water(?).

"Duo!" they all shouted.

Snarling, I whirled around. "What! We're not gonna get anything done just standin' here lookin' at the damn thing! And you guys were too chickenshit to make the first move, so I did. So there. If somethin' bites my hand off, then you can say 'I told you so,' but when I snag the biggest, most bad-ass monster in here, I'm gonna laugh in yer faces." They all exchanged one last uncertain look before slowly lowering their balls (hehee!) into the water(?).

…And we stood there.

And waited.

Aw, why were we doing so much of that here?

"Uh, is somethin' supposed to be happening right now?" I asked, swirling my submerged arm around in the liquid. Trowa shrugged.

"Don't ask us, Duo. For all we know, something's already happened." Wufei pulled his hand out of the well.

Nope, his glass was still clear. Okay….

Quatre growled. "Maybe I should go get Baelemar," he started. "I mean he is… Heero, how'd you do that?" I looked over. Damn him he would be first.

Heero's sphere was a bright lilac color, with silver swirling around in it. I pulled my hand out, dismayed to find that the only difference in my orb was that it was wet. Heero smirked like the cocky (sexy) jerk he truly was. "I actually _followed_ Baelemar's instructions. You're supposed to think about yourself, concentrate on yourself, nothing else." He looked at me. "Maybe if you'd shut up, you'll be able to." I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned. "You wish, Maxwell."

You bet I did.

With renewed zeal, I re-thrust my hand into the… Ether-water. I focused on what made me Duo "Sweet, Sexy Shinigami" Maxwell: what I was good at, what I wasn't good at (which wasn't much), my dark side (hmm, dangerous Duo… yeah…), what… "Gift" I had (whatever the fuck "Green" meant, Urai!), all that. With my eyes closed, I concentrated harder than I had in a long time.

And WAITED! Gaddammit, I was so fucking sick of wait- "ACK!"

I felt a sudden jolt in the hand holding the ball and quickly yanked it up out of the well. The little glass ball was filled with swirling black and (damn it, why can't I escape the color) green. Circling the entire surface of the sphere was a black design. Must've been the seal, or whatever.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed the green in the sphere wasn't the same color GREEN as I'd been seeing before. This was like a wicked-bright, super-intense green. Like, the color of thawed frozen peas, you know what I mean? Green like acid.

"Whoa," I breathed, looking into the swirling globe, fascinated. "That's so cool." I held the sphere up to my nose, trying to get a better look.

/_You'd think so, wouldn't you, Master_/ a smooth, inviting voice purred in my head.

In my head!

I wish I could give you all the details of what was going on around me, I really do. At that exact same moment, Heero started yelling, Quatre was screaming, and Wufei began cursing in Chinese. I don't know what Trowa was doing, but he wasn't making any noise.

Aaaand that's all I know about the others. Sorry.

But I can tell you what was happening to _me_, though. Oh, boy, can I.

I remembered what the old guy said about willing the demon to belong to me, or whatever, so I started. "Uh, I want you to, ah, belong to me." There was a chuckle in response to this.

/_Hn, you and so many others. But you're so hesitant! You know you're going to have to work for it, don't you? _Master The voice sneered the last word. I grinned.

"Please! You're talkin' to Shinigami, pal, and I had to work for everything I ever got! So, let's see what you got, _demon_." Another chuckle.

/_Ooooh Duo, put me in my place_/ He laughed again._ /Let's get started then, Shinigami. Catch./_

Hey, wait a minute, how did he know my na- **_PAIN_!** Blinding, white-hot, agonizing pain! The intensity of it was all I could think about. I couldn't even dwell on the fact that there had been a voice IN MY HEAD (which, in fact, didn't even seem weird… God, I was going crazy), and I had been talking to it, goading it, it hurt so bad. It felt as though someone were trying to cleave my head in two with a blunt axe, while they heaped dry ice on my exposed brain. Graphic, no? My right arm was on fire; there was a bright ring of pain twisting its way along the entire length. God, it felt like I was being burned alive!

I could dimly hear the others' struggling. Quatre was shouting himself hoarse. Wufei was ranting (go figure). Heero, shouting in Japanese. Trowa… well, I still didn't really know what was going on with Trowa.

I roughly shoved myself away from the well, falling to my knees, as my legs were too weak to support me. I would have vomited, if I could have summoned the energy to do so. As it was, I could barely see. That hateful, vindictive laughter echoed in my head again, and I was hit with fresh wave of agony. I screamed and collapsed full onto the floor. Damn it!

/_You know, for a human, you're really not doing all too badly. I've killed people with less than this. Congratulations. It doesn't have to be this way though_/ the voice cooed soothingly. There was a hideous flash of pain through both my temples and I screamed again, clenching my fists in an attempt to keep from crying. /_You know you don't have to have an amplifier, boy. You don't have to suffer like this. Put me back, and it'll stop, I promise./_ I held the ball directly in front of my eyes, as I couldn't see it from any farther away. I could still see the seal. So, the demon was in there. He was in there, and judging from the amount of sweet-talk, he didn't like it.

Well, tough nuts, buddy, cuz I wasn't gonna lose this fight.

I forced myself onto my elbows and concentrated on claiming the thing as my own again. "You're mine, dammit, you hear me? You belong to me. You're

mine, you're mine!" I screamed. The demon growled angrily, and I felt a wave of black nausea rip through my stomach.

/_Masochist_/ the monster jeered as my body pitched forward again. I groaned and rolled over onto my back, bringing the hand holding the orb to my face once again.

"You… you are mine!" I shouted at it. I heard a serpentine hiss in my head before fire lanced through my head once again, and everything seemed to darken a little. The ball stayed in front of my eyes, though. I had a mission, and I'd be damned if I let a little (okay A WHOLE FUCKING LOT) of pain keep me from completing it.

…Shit, I sounded like Heero.

/_Damn it, boy, give UP/_ PAIN! I gritted my teeth and sat up again.

"N-NO!" I squeezed the glass ball in my hand, as if that would help shut him up. I doubled over and cried out, as another surge of agony bolted through my brain. I grabbed my head and leaned forward. "Dammit," I moaned.

The demon laughed. /_Give. It. Up./_

"NO! You're mine! YOU! ARE! _MINE_!" I closed my eyes, and the GREEN from before flooded my head. There was a harsh, choking sound.

/_Dammit, you stubborn little- FUCK! _/

And suddenly, the pain stopped.

I sat up, drenched in sweat, and lifted the ball to my face, praying silently that it was over.

The seal was gone.

I looked down and saw that the black design from the ball was now wound around the entire length of my right arm, from the top of my shoulder, to the tip of my middle finger. Huh. Not bad-looking. Kinda sweet, actually. Alright! I had a wicked-cool spell-seal-tattoo on my arm. Which meant….

I'd won!

I scanned the room to see if the others had triumphed as well. Heero was sweating and breathing hard, sitting on the floor near Wufei, who had, apparently passed out. Quatre looked like he's been caught in a blizzard, panting and pale, with red cheeks and blue lips. Trowa could have just come back from a tropical vacation in Maui, he looked so relaxed.

I collapsed back onto my back, holding the ball in the air, and staring at its roiling contents. I smirked. "Hey, buddy, you still in there? Yeah? Bet yer pretty pissed you just got beat by a kid, huh?" I gloated. There was a short growl and a snort.

/_Shut up/_ he muttered. From the sounds of it, he was pouting. Pouting! Weren't demons supposed to be huge vicious monsters? Why the hell was it _pouting_?

"Great," I sighed as I stood up, surprised that the action didn't hurt at all. "I got a sissy jellyfish for an amplifier. The ball glowed brightly.

_/What_/ the demon shrieked indignantly. /_You miserable whelp! Let me out, I'll show you what a sissy jellyfish I'm not_! I laughed, remembering all the pain I'd just been in, the fact that he'd caused it, and the fact that, now, he was now completely under my control. The demon growled. /_I am not completely under your control, you long-haired little rat_/ he howled. I grinned again, tossing the ball up and snatching it out of the air.

"Yeah? Well, if you can't come outta there without me _giving you permission_, I'd say you were pretty… wait, how'd you know I was thinking that?" I know I hadn't said it out loud.

He chuckled. /_Hope you're not in the habit of thinking impure thoughts, Master_/ he whispered cryptically. I gulped.

"Y-you can read my mind?"

/_Uh-huuuuh. And you're absolutely right. That Yuy boy does have a spectacular-/_

"Duo, look!" I whirled around, grateful to Quatre for the distraction from the demon's intrusion into my perverted mind. He was pointing at the newly revived Wufei.

Or, rather, he was pointing to the gorgeous hunk behind the newly revived Wufei.

Oh, God, I wasn't sure I'd be able to survive in this place. The men were giving me heart attacks!

The guy was really tall, with short, light blue hair and golden eyes. His arms were folded over his broad chest, and in his impeccable white clothes, he seemed regal. He looked around the room with a contemptuous air. Hmm. Maybe a better word was arrogant.

My demon snorted. /_It is, Veda's an ass. Thinks everyone alive was created with his sense of right and wrong. Hates women and love, and anyone in any sort of relationship's weak. He's under the impression love makes you vulnerable./_ Damn, this guy sounded _just like_ Wu! The demon laughed. /_He probably is. Veda hasn't allowed himself to be Drawn in quite awhile. I'd have to fully disagree about the love making you weak thing, though._/ He sounded almost wistful. I smiled, thinking of Heero. _Yeah, me, too._

"Hey, Wu-bear, how'd you do that?" I called, curious. He smirked and looked up at the (what I assumed was his amplifying) demon.

"I called him out, Maxwell." His eyes took on a teasing glint. "What, you can't call yours? Onna?" Bitch, you fainted! My demon snickered. The blue haired guy, Veda, smiled snidely at me, hovering close to his Master. Oh, yeah, he and Wu were made for each other.

"You just call it out?" Trowa asked, holding up a pretty golden ball. Wufei nodded.

"Yes, by their name, if you mastered it." Trowa lifted up his shirt to reveal a long red tibal-patterned tattoo down the center of his back. (I could practically hear Quatre drooling.) Wonder how Tro figured out that was there….

"Alright, then you can come out, Dakora," he said, holding the ball out in front of him. My demon laughed.

"What is it," I whispered as Trowa's orb started glowing.

/_Dako. He's a sweet kid. But he's insane, so I hope that boy's strong as he looks. Kora's young, so his powers're really unstable and unpredictable. He's incredible, though, Trowa-boy is lucky._/

"Yeah?" The demon snickered.

/_Yeah. Not nearly as lucky as you, though, love._/ I smirked inwardly.

Yesss, I win!

"_That's_ your demon, Trowa?" Heero asked incredulously. I looked up. Aw, no way!

"_Awww_!"

"He's _so_ cute!"

Next to Trowa was a huge, gorgeous orange-yellow fox with black feet, ears, and face. Its long, bushy tail was extended into a straight line as it stretched out. Dakora straightened back up and looked up, wagging his fluffy tail and offering us an enormous, open-mouthed canine grin.

Quatre and I were there in a heartbeat, gushing all over him, how cute he was, how soft and exquisite his fur was, scratching and petting and rubbing him all the while. Dakora's tail wagged faster and his pink tongue lolled out, and we took this as a sign to increase the praise and pampering.

Heero and Trowa looked half-concerned and half-amused at our antics, while Wufei shook his head pityingly.

After a few minutes of this, my demon rumbled in my head. /_Alright, that's enough! He's a demon, damn it, not a poodle. And lemme out, I'm sick of being in here_/ I grumbled as I stood up.

"Fine, jeez, you're so pushy. Okay, come out… uh, crap, what's your name?" Trowa laughed.

"Nice relationship you've got established, there, Duo," he chuckled. I flipped him off.

/_Yoriko_/ he answered. I could hear the smile in his voice. I put the ball down on the ground and rubbed my hands together.

"Okay then, Yoriko, why dontcha make a nice dramatic entrance, eh? Show 'em who's got the baddest demon of the bunch." Veda's head snapped up.

"_Yoriko_?" he demanded.

Yoriko snickered. /_As you wish, Master_/ he whispered theatrically. Without warning, the ball glowed with a blinding ebony light.

"Shit, Duo!" Heero shouted, shielding his eyes. I backed up.

"I didn't do anything but tell him to come out." Quatre made a face.

"Yeah, you told him to come out. Dramatically," he added. I had just opened my mouth to retort when a strong, tattooed arm wrapped itself around my waist and jerked me back into a warm, hard body.

"Dramatic enough for you, Master?" Yoriko cooed, nuzzling my cheek with his own. I frowned.

"Yoriko, you bastard you… _oh_…."

Heart _attack_, baby! _Score_!

I had looked up to yell, when I found myself staring into a pair of brilliant, acid green eyes. I found myself staring into a pair of brilliant, acid green eyes. He had longish, thick, glossy black hair fell just a little past his ears in wild almost-spikes. In his tight, black sleeveless turtleneck, and even tighter black pants, he reminded me a tiny bit of Kyo, in the hotness department, but real different in the I-don't-give-a-shit-cuz-I'm-a-dangerous-sexy-bad-ass department. Fuck, he was sex on two legs! (Not like sex-with-Heero on two legs, but still, amazing sex all the same.) He grinned widely, and I'm proud to say that the fangs in his mouth didn't freak me out. In fact, they were kinda hot….

Yoriko purred. "Why, thank you, Master," he whispered seductively, leaning down to nestle his head in the crook of my shoulder. As soon as his skin met mine, my brain felt slow, numb. I unconsciously tilted my head back, and Yoriko took the opportunity to trail his lips along my exposed jugular. I groaned unabashedly while he kissed me, oblivious to the others' shock.

"Uhhhmm… Duo?" I barely registered the voice as Heero's (can you believe it?), as the demon continued his ministrations.

"Yeah?" The word came out of my mouth like honey, slow and slurred. (Yeah, I didn't know you could slur one word, either, but somehow I managed.)

"What…. Duo, what are you _doing_!" he asked, as Yoriko ran a hand up my abdomen and I moaned encouragingly, arching against his chest. There was some barely veiled emotion lurking in Heero's voice, but I couldn't bring myself to care long enough to try and figure it out.

_God, why am I acting like such a slut! _(And what's worse, an exhibitionist slut!)_ What're you doing to me, Yoriko! _

The demon slid a hand down my front and licked my ear languidly. _Aahh! Oooohh, yeeess! Wait…. …Damn, what was I just saying?_

/_Hmm, nothing, Master./_

"D-Duo?" Quatre called tentatively. His small silver orb was glowing fiercely, and he kept stealing glances at it, looking very uncomfortable. But I was far _too_ comfortable in Yoriko's arms to notice. Trowa was petting and staring concentratedly at Dakora, who appeared to be… sleeping. Well fine, ignore me and nap then, see if I care. Heero looked distant and dreamy, and Mr. and Mrs. Tightwad were clearly disgusted.

…But, maybe they had reason to be. I mean, I'd just met Yoriko, like, five minutes ago, during which time he'd tried to kill me, and he was a demon. And there I was, in the middle of a room of my best friends, one of whom I'm _madly_ in love with, moaning and gasping and rapidly approaching orgasm because I was practically dry-humping him. Maybe they did have reason to look disgusted. Maybe….

Yoriko chuckled and tugged my braid, tilting my head farther back. "Can't have you thinking like that now, Master," he said in a low voice. /_In fact, don't think at all_./ And with that, he sank his "hot" fangs into the skin of my throat.

I gasped in pain, at first, but the sound quickly became a wail of pleasure as every situation I'd ever been in, real or imagined, played out, unbidden, before my eyes. I could distantly make out Trowa's and Heero's frantic, panicked voices.

_Heero_….

I saw him at Quatre's pool party, half-drunk and half-hard, lying flat on his back, waiting for me to suck the shot of tequila off his stomach. I saw him in the rain, sodden clothes clinging to his perfect body. I saw him at the opera, looking classy and immaculate. I saw the two of us making love, on the beach, in his bed, my bed, my bathtub, couch, kitchen counter, floor. I imagined his face above me, beneath me, eyes clouded with need, mouth half open….

"_YORIKO_!"

"Oh, fuck." The wind left my lungs as I was suddenly, unceremoniously dropped on my back. Well, that was one way to get rid of arousal. I was too weak to move on my own, but that was okay, as Quatre, Wufei, Trowa, and _Heero_ were instantly at my side. Heero picked me up and pulled me into his lap, demanding to know if I was alright.

Oh, boy was I.

Distantly, I could make out two shouting voices: one was undoubtedly Yoriko's, impertinent and cheeky. The other, voice, however, was passionate. Furious. A little scary.

"Damn it, Yori, what were you thinking?" the unidentified voice roared as I looked up. My vision was hazy, but I could make out two figures. One was sitting in the high-backed chair in the corner of the room, while the other, taller figure was standing.

"Oh please, 's'not like he could have _died_," Yoriko tossed back, sounding bored. Died! He laughed. "Not at the rate he was going. You're over-exaggerating as usual, Aedeka." The standing figure (Aedeka, whoever that was) grabbed the figure in the chair (Yoriko) by the front of his shirt, and yanked him to his feet so that they were nearly face-to-face. "Hey, watch it!" Yoriko exclaimed. Aedeka growled thunderously.

"Apologize," he hissed, pointing to me. Yoriko looked at him as though he'd grown a second head.

"_Apologize_?" he parroted incredulously. "You expect me to apologize? He liked it, you saw him! It's not like I-HEY!" Aedeka grabbed him by his unruly hair and dragged him towards us. "Oww! Damn it , Aedeka, that h- OUCH! Stop it! Asshole, let me go!" The larger boy shoved Yoriko roughly forward, not seeming to care that he hadn't completely let go of his hair yet, and ended up snapping his head back.

I didn't.

I sat up from the security of Heero's lap (sigh) and looked the demon in the eye. Yoriko stood glowering before me, lips lifted in a venomous snarl. I glared right back at him. Fucking bastard! I remembered what he'd done to me, and my hand flew to my neck. I pulled it back and gaped at the blood there. So he really _did_ bite me!

"_Wow_. Good job, _Master_." He sneered the last word again, displaying those perfectly white fangs, tail thrashing. I was about to dish out a scalding comeback, when my brain backtracked.

_Tail_?

I rubbed my eyes, blinking owlishly.

Here we go again.

…But, wait. Before I delve into the fact that Yoriko didn't look even remotely human anymore, let's address the issue of Aedeka, heart attack numero three-o. Cuz he was too beautiful to get left out.

He had gleaming silver hair and soft, lavender eyes, and looked stunning in blue. He was relatively tall, taller than Yoriko, but then again, Yoriko was only a few inches taller than me, so, yeah, that doesn't mean much. He still looked to be furious with my demon, and at that moment, that was fine by me. Great, in fact, as it meant _I_ had another person on _my_ side.

Yes! Duo: 1, Depraved Demon Bastard: 0

…Okay, so maybe it was a tie, cause I'd been totally thrown off by his appearance… and him molesting me in front of everyone and forcing me to like it… and him BITING me and making me fantasize about Heero against my will….

In case you're keeping score, all that stuff only counts as one point.

…And so, back to Yoriko's appearance….

His long, serpentine tail lashed back and forth on the ground, while he furled and unfurled the enormous black bat-wings on his back. (Sigh, I don't know how I managed not to notice them, either). His hands were clenched into fists, and I noticed his elegantly tapered fingers ended in malefic-looking claws. And I missed all that.

Damn, I'm blind.

"Yes, you are," Yoriko said, turning his nose up. "And I don't care what Aedeka says, I'm not apologizing to you." He looked back to me and stuck his tongue out.

His purple-back tongue.

Could this guy get any more inhuman!

"I'm _not_ a human, you little idiot, so stop expecting me to look like one!" I bristled.

"Hey, you can't call me an idiot, I own you!" I stood up quickly (a little too quickly, if the dizziness was any indication) and stared him down. Er… up. He sucked his teeth and tossed his head dismissively.

"You wish, human. Nobody _owns_ me." At this, Aedeka grinned.

"Really, Yori? Nobody? Because I was under the impression that a bound demon, such as yourself, _couldn't disobey a direct order from his Master._" He looked at me and raised his eyebrows suggestively. I smiled, deciding I really liked this Aedeka guy.

Meanwhile, Yoriko was babbling on. "-ybe _you_ can't disobey an order, but _I _can do whatever the fuck I want, bind or no bind. No one tells me anything I don't want to h-"

"Hey, Yoriko?" I called sweetly. His green eyes narrowed in instant suspicion.

"What?" he growled guardedly.

"I command you to apologize to me." His eyes grew wide in disbelief.

"You ballsy little punk, who the fuck d-do…." His breath hitched, and he looked genuinely confused. "Y-you thi…nk… you…you…. Sh-shit." He glared up at me, face twisted in anguish. "Ha-hate… you," he gasped. I knelt down beside him.

"Duo," Heero warned. I ignored him. I had him right where I wanted him.

"You know, Yoriko, it doesn't have to be this way." He hissed at me as he recognized the words. You don't have to be so prideful. You don't _have_ to suffer like this. Apologize to me, and it'll stop, _I promise_." He swayed on his feet, eyes squinting against the pain.

"Stupid… mis… quoting… l-little…. …. …sorry." I patted him gently on the back.

"There, there, now, sweetie, see? That wasn't so bad, now was it?" I only just caught the manic gleam in his eye. …Oops. Bad move, Duo.

Without warning, he whirled around and tackled me, landing hard on my stomach, black wings outstretched. Growling, he savagely forced my arms apart and pinned them to the ground.

"Duo!" Trowa and Heero called, but stayed where they were. I turned my head pleadingly, watching in confusion as Quatre began querulously conferring with his orb. Damn it, Quat, now's not the time to be talking to your new pet demon! _Save_ _me_!

And where the hell was Wufei?

"Yoriko!" Aedeka snapped. "Get off him!" Yoriko grinned twistedly.

"Such _horrendous_ grammar, brother dear," he snickered. _Brother? …Wait, I don't get it_, I thought, even as he wrapped his hands around my throat.

Crap.

"Y-Yoriko, I demand that you get off! Now!" That earned me a huge, lunatic smile.

Sweet goodness, he looked deranged.

"My, my, _my,_ what's gotten _into_ everyone today?" From his position straddling my hips, he looked back to Aedeka, who had just growled. "Perception is reality," he called.

_O_h. I get it, now.

"Yoriko, _stop_ being a pervert, let go of _every_ hold you have on _any_ _part_ of _my body_, and… Y-Yoriko, what are you doing?"

He'd begun to convulse on top of me, and his breathing was harsh and erratic, face was screwed up into a mask of agony. His large, bat-like wings were shuddering, and his tail was writhing on the floor behind him. He was definitely in pain from ignoring my overly explicit orders, that much was clear.

So… why was he grinning?

He laughed hoarsely. "Sorry, I didn't tell you? As… you… can see, I don't… enjoy being-ahn!" he winced and grimaced, clutching his side, but continued. "-in pain. However…." The crazed grin returned.

"Yoriko, sto-" Aedeka began, but he was cut off. Damn, I wished I could have seen who'd stopped him! What the hell, guys, let him finish stopping his brother from being weird on top of me!

"I do love… to cause it." I paled. What? _WHAT_? He leaned down and licked the wound he'd created on my neck. I shuddered, partially out of revulsion, partially because a Yoriko was still gorgeous, and he had me pinned down and was licking my throat. He hummed and smiled into the side of my neck. "See… what you do to me… Master?" He re-seated his fangs into my neck.

I screamed. Never in my whole life had I felt anything so hideously painful.

…Well, okay, so the thrashing Yoriko gave me during the whole Drawing process was worse, but this was a close second.

"Duo!" Quatre shouted. I couldn't see him, but he began talking to his orb again. Damn it, when (and if I ever) got up, I was gonna break that fucking thing! This was the second time it interfered with Quat saving me!

Yoriko drew back and smiled at me, his sharp teeth coated with blood. My blood. I shuddered again, this time, just out of revulsion.

"Again?" he rasped too-sweetly, already leaning down. Hmmm… sweetly….

Got it.

"I-I'm sorry!" I gasped. He stared blankly at me and sat back. Yes! I'm brilliant!

"Huh?" I stayed on my back, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it hurt that much. I-" He put a finger to my lips.

"Why are _you_ apologizing?"

"Uh… well, we need to be on good terms, right? I realize I was being a dick, and I'd've been mad at me, too, yanno? I mean, you're bound to me 'till I die, right? I figured I'd make the first move, so, ah, you'd… know I was serious." He continued to stare at me wonderingly. Then, a look of comprehension materialized on his face. That can't be good….

"Oh, I see. So you thought you could get away by throwing this sudden proverbial wrench in my gears, by apologizing for something that was really no fault of yours, so I'd be too shocked and sentimentally moved to want to hurt you anymore right?" he asked grinning. I looked away, lips pursed.

Damn.

I thought for sure if that strategy worked on Heero, it'd work on anyone.

He laughed. "You forget, Master, I can see in here." He reached out with a clawed hand and gently tapped the side of my head. "But you're clever, I'll give you that. I don't know that I would have seen through your little ruse, had I not been able to read you." Still smiling, he leaned down once more, his nose centimeters from mine. "You devious, cunning little boy," he lilted, getting closer. I couldn't tell if I was excited or scared. "Deceitful, fallacious-"

"Slut."

Hey, I resent that!

Yoriko's head snapped up. "Loeke?" What? Low key? What the hell was he-

I looked up over his shoulder and suffered my fourth and most acute heart attack yet. Damn, if it weren't for the demon on my stomach (and for the fact that he looked just a _little_ too young for me; older guys're my thing), I think I might have just jumped the boy right then and there, screw Heero. …Too…. Hmmm…. Oh, wow, what a lovely image.

Yoriko was off me in a flash, and at the side of this new beauty.

The ethereal apparition in front of me pretended not to notice Yoriko, his narrowed, pastel silver eyes boring holes into the far wall. "Ke-ko," Yoriko purred silkily. With a delicate hand, the small boy regally swept his long white hair back from his slender neck and turned to the other wall, continuing to ignore him. Yoriko took a risk and placed a hand on the boy's pale shoulder. This proved to be a mistake, as the boy bared pearl-white fangs in a furious hiss, viciously swatting the other demon's hand away. Yoriko cocked his head, and smiled indulgently.

I stood up, (honestly concerned for Yoriko's safety) and had just opened my mouth to say something, when, of course, I was cut off.

"I wouldn't say anything right now, if I were you, Duo," Quatre whispered. I turned to him.

"Why?" The blond shook his head and plopped down on the floor next to Trowa, Heero and Aedeka. Damn it, I just stood up!

"Loeke's mad at _both _of you. He's been like this ever since you made out with Yoriko," he said as I took a seat next to him.

"Oh, he's your amplif- Hey! I did not make out with him! He made me do it!" Trowa laughed.

"Really, Duo? It looked consensual to me. It's not like he was holding you down or anything." I glared at him. Traitor. Aedeka smiled warmly and shook his head.

"No. Truth be told, Duo, he was holding you, in a way. Yoriko and I are… hmm. Are you familiar with the term 'incubus'?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I think so. Those're demons that have sex with women and eat their souls, right?" He laughed.

"More or less. We feed off of sexual energy, not souls, but you were close. Anyway, Yoriko started off just teasing you. He hadn't really intended to feed off you, but he got carried away." Oh, so _that's_ why I felt so funny.

Heero frowned. "Could he have killed him?"

"Yes. Well, no. Here, let me rephrase that. Yori was… drowning, for lack of a better word." He turned to me. "You're a very sexual person, Duo," he said, smiling. I blushed. What do you say to that! "You provided ample plenty for Yori to feed on, and he glutted. Seeing as how you weren't exactly running low on what he needed to take, you would have been alright, so long as someone, so long as I, was there to stop him from taking too much. That's why I was telling you to let me out and stop panicking, Master," he said to Heero. Trowa nodded.

"That's what he was saying, too," he muttered to himself. What? Quatre frowned.

"Then Aedeka, how, aside from the fact that he bit Duo, is his feeding a bad thing?" Aedeka stretched his muscular arms.

"Mmmm. Well, normally, it really wouldn't be. Most incubi feed and leave their victims feeling weak, a little dazed, aroused. However, due to… extenuating circumstances, Yori's not normal. He can drain the life-force from whomever he feeds on, as well. It's one of his… acquired talents." He looked at me. "Duo, after the Drawing, you needn't have worried, Yoriko wouldn't have _really_ hurt you, I promise. Besides, you're his Master, now. He couldn't have killed you, even if he'd wanted to." I made a face. Well, I could argue _that_ point, but I let Aedeka keep talking. "That's just his way of messing around. Loeke knows that, too, and I think he wanted to see how far Yori'd go with you if no one stopped him; he wouldn't let us interfere. …But, Yoriko crossed the line, somewhere, because Loeke was pissed, and nearly killed your friend Quatre for not letting him out sooner."

Ah, so I did have new hottie to thank for saving me. …No, wait, didn't Aedeka say he was the one who wouldn't _let_ anyone save me? And what line did Yoriko cross? And how the fuck is nearly killing someone messing around?

Damn it, I was confused again.

"Wait," Trowa said slowly. "What… what does Loeke have to do with Yoriko? Why would he get pissed, unless… are they…?"

"Lovers?" a helpful voice called. We all looked over to the well, where Yoriko and Loeke were sitting. Yoriko seemed to have been forgiven for whatever line he'd crossed, as the white-haired boy was in his lap, still scowling a little, but not seeming to mind the larger demon's arms around him. Or his lips on his shoulder. Or his tail wrapped around his right leg. I gulped, suddenly very uncomfortable.

…Wait-

"Wait a minute, how old is Loeke?" Heero demanded uncharacteristically, taking the words right out of my mouth. "God, Aedeka, he looks, like, sixteen! Wouldn't that make Yoriko…."

"A _pedophile_?" Everyone in our little circle turned to see Veda and Wufei standing in the doorway, both looking morally offended.

"The Elders are on their way back," Wufei said, glancing over at Yoriko, who was currently leaning over, engaged in a passionate kiss with Loeke, and clearly enjoying the way the smaller demon… tasted. I gulped again. Whoo, boy, it was getting hot in here.

Veda sneered in Yoriko's direction. "You are disgusting, Yoriko," he bit out. The demon ignored him, deepening the kiss, tail visibly tightening around the junction between Loeke's legs.

So very, very hot.

Damn, it I was horny again! Why weren't Heero and me together yet! We could be doing that right now!

…Minus the tail-action, of course.

"You've absolutely no concept of decency," Veda continued. Loeke opened his eyes and glared at him, not breaking the kiss. (Man, that was hot!) "Doing that here, in front of others? In front of your Master? You are a disgrace! You-"

"Shut. Up. Veda." Loeke's voice was bell-clear, almost innocent sounding, but harsh and forceful, and far colder than any child's voice would have been. You know how, in movies where little kids get possessed, and their voices are all hollow and dark and echoey? Like that.

He'd stopped kissing Yoriko (who looked crestfallen) to snarl this warning to the larger demon. Veda turned his glare on him.

Okay, _now_ it was cold.

"And _you_, you debauched, monstrous little wanton. You _allowed_ him to seduce you, to deflower you, corrupt you, to turn you into this-this indecorous, libertine sexual deviant! What would your parents say, if they could see you now?" Loeke rolled his pale eyes and leaned back into Yoriko, smirking at the demon headed towards him.

"How would I know, Veda? And even if I did, I really don't care," he whispered, reaching back to run his fingers through Yoriko's glossy black hair. "But you're doing a good enough job treating me like a defenseless innocent, as it is, don't you think? Why don't you keep it up, be my daddy? You might very well might end up serving an actual _purpose_. For once."

Whoa. Ouch.

Loeke fisted the hand in his lover's hair and brutally wrenched his head back down to re-initiate their kiss, leaving Veda to process the fact that he'd just been royally dissed.

I watched them, got hot again, and looked around me to see if my friends were having similar reactions. Trowa was staring very pointedly at the ceiling, Quatre looked as though he might spontaneously combust, and Heero… was staring at me.

We locked eyes for a moment that seemed to last forever, my violet meeting his blue, then quickly looked away, both of us blushing. God, I wanted him! He was so beautiful and so perfect and such a great guy, and I loved him so much! He was everything I ever wanted, and so much more.

"Idiot. Quit whining and take him, _Master_," Yoriko growled at me from around Loeke's mouth. I screeched indignantly.

"Oh, God, shut up, Yoriko!" My eyes darted over to Heero, to see if he knew what Yoriko was referring to, but he just looked confused.

Awww. He was so cute like that.

Veda was on the warpath again. "How dare you say such a thing to your Master! You should be ashamed of yourself, Yoriko!" The demon reluctantly broke from his lover.

"Yeah? And since I'm not? What, does that make me a terrible person?"

"You are _already _a terrible person!"

"Alright then, what's your point!" Veda stormed towards him, but Aedeka stepped between the two. He held up his hands and smiled.

"Hey, now, come on Veda, ease up a bit, huh? No need to bite people's heads off for every little thing, is there?" The blue-haired man clenched his fist.

"Quiet, Aedeka! Be glad I haven't made known your derelictions, as of yet. In so far as corruption, you are no less twisted than your brother! You are both horrifyingly depraved _fiends_ who have completely warped and polluted the minds _and_ bodies of two-" Aedeka's eyes had opened wide, probably surprised Veda would start in on him like that, then narrowed just as quickly.

"_Excuse_ me?" he asked, voice dangerously low. "And just who the _fuck_ do you think you are, that you think you have the right to 'make known _my_ derelictions', Veda? _Or_ my brother's, for that matter, like _you've_ never done anything wrong?" His lilac eyes were literally glowing.

Whoa! And here I thought Aedeka was the polite, gentle, levelheaded one! …Horrifyingly depraved fiend, eh…? That actually sounded kinda hot when you applied it to him…. Yoriko, too, if you forgot about his tryin' to kill me two or three times…. Oooh, and _Loeke_….

Sorry.

Heero looked up. "Aedeka, stop it," he warned. The growling demon looked to Heero, back to Veda, and snorted, sitting back down next to his Master.

Yoriko was having fun with the situation. "Ha! What'cha got to say now, V? You were about to get you're ass handed to you by _my brother_! Not even me, by my quiet, overly-civil, peace-loving, goody two-shoes brother! And _I'm_ the unstable one!"

I stood up, having decided to take a leaf out of Heero's book and show him who was boss, when Veda shoved me out of his way. Hey, now! Quatre rushed to my side, asking if I was alright.

"Silence, miscreant! I would never be defeated by the likes of _you,_ or your brother, because I have _integrity_ and _morals_, unlike either one of you!" I was confused, and could tell by the expression on Quatre's face that he was, too. Aedeka growled obstinately, but stayed at Heero's side.

What did Veda's virtues have to do with anything, at this point? I didn't even know what the hell they were arguing about anymore!

Loeke had apparently had enough of this craziness as well, because he stepped forward and put a petite hand on Yoriko's shoulder. "Yori," he said softly. To my surprise, Yoriko shook him off and took a step towards the taller demon.

"Yeah, well, _you're still a_ _virgin_!"

Where the hell'd that come from?

The room got deadly quiet; the same as right before a bomb detonates. Veda was staring at Yoriko, hate and the desire to kill burning in his amber eyes, while the black-haired demon grinned impudently. I was debating with myself, whether I thought Yoriko was very brave, or very stupid.

I decided on stupid. It seemed to be the more fitting choice.

/_I can still hear you, moron_/

Oh. Sorry, I meant brave.

The air in the room was volatile, like it would ignite if someone dared breathe too hard. I stood next to Yoriko, waiting for all hell to break loose, when we were rescued.

/_Wha's goin on_/ a scratchy, drowsy voiced asked in our heads. (In our heads. Man, it was starting to freak me out that this didn't seem strange to me anymore.) The tension in the air dissipated almost immediately, as we all turned to the owner of that endearing voice.

"I didn't know he could talk, Trowa," Heero said, surprised.

"Veda," Wufei called. The demon nodded and headed towards him.

Dakora had returned from his nap in the corner, and was rubbing his eye with a black paw. Awww, he was _soooo cuuute_! Yoriko turned to me, looking disgusted.

"You fucking twit." On cue, Veda stopped his journey towards Wufei and whirled around.

Oh, for the love of God!

"What is wrong with you! Why is it that you cannot seem to respect your Master, Yoriko? Why-"

"That's enough, Veda." Yay, Wuffie saved my demon! "It's not that big of a deal." He looked at me smiling. Wasn't all that sure I trusted that smile. "Besides, he and Maxwell were made for each other. Crude, loud, insufferable, obnoxious." Nope, didn't trust it. "It's fine. They're going to disrespect each other until they figure out their relationship, anyway, just let it go."

"Thanks fer nothin', Wu," I sighed, flopping down on the floor at an indignant Yoriko's feet. I was seriously contemplating taking a nice long nap, and digesting all the facts of the day (that I'd really just pulled an insane sex-demon out of some well, and now he was bound to me, and he was dating some little boy, and his brother was almost as up-and-down as he was, and the fact that 'Wufei should marry his demon' had actually been a thought of mine, and that I really, really, _really_ loved Heero) when an orange-yellow and black blur went streaking past me.

/_AEDEKA_/ Dakora cried, racing hell-bent towards the demon. Aedeka had just enough time to turn and look completely shocked before the fox dove on him.

"'Kora!" he gasped, right before he hit the ground. Beside me Yoriko started laughing.

"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about them," he chuckled. Loeke snorted.

"How'd you manage to do that, Yori?" he sniffed, tossing his head, shaking his long white hair from his shoulders. Yoriko growled and grabbed him.

"Love it when you do that," he said in a husky voice. My eyes got wide as Loeke grinned wickedly and they started kissing again.

Dear God, did either of them ever turn off!

/_Nope_/ Yoriko snickered, as he langorously groped the smaller boy. Loeke moaned loudly and returned the favor.

Ugh! How was he supposed to amplify my 'magical powers', or whatever, when he couldn't keep off his boyfriend!

…'Course, I couldn't really blame him….

I looked to my side, where Dakora (nyawww!) was on top of Aedeka (rrawr!), licking his face frantically, his luxuriant tail wagging back and forth so hard I thought it might fly off. The silver-haired demon was laughing happily and running his hands through the fur on the fox's back.

Quatre giggled. "Aw, that's so cute! Is he Aedeka's pet?"

Not two seconds later, Yoriko and Loeke exploded. Laughing raucously, Yoriko fell to his knees, clutching his ribs, while Loeke collapsed onto his bowed back. Veda was looking up miserably, leaning against the wall behind us, covering his face with an elegant hand.

Heero, Wufei, Trowa, and I look to Quatre.

What did you say, Quat?

As the three demons reacted to this statement, I turned my attention back to Aedeka and Dakora, trying to figure out how on Earth Quatre's question could have been funny.

"Must be an inside joke," Heero said, rubbing the back of his head. I was about to nod when something strange caught me eye.

The two demons on the floor had shifted, so that the Dakora was underneath, and Aedeka was on top of him. That wasn't the strange part, though. No, what made this situation so unusual was the fact that Aedeka was kissing Dakora's furry, fire-colored chest and belly, growling something incomprehensible, while the fox squirmed and panted beneath him.

Um… eew?

With my peripheral vision, I saw that a tick had developed in the corner of Heero's eye, while Trowa's face was the color of sour milk. Quatre's face was a study in blank shock, and Wufei looked like he was suffering the effects of a slow-acting poison.

I turned to Heero and Trowa, smirking. "Well, Heero, Tro, 'least you two'll have rea-"

"Choose your last words carefully, Maxwell," Trowa threatened. Heero nodded in agreement. I sneered. Fine, be uptight about the fact that both your demons were freaks, see if I cared.

We'd been so busy being stunned, we'd stopped looking at the two demons for a few moments. When I turned back, involuntarily, like a moth to flame, to the aforementioned pair, I gaped.

I couldn't see very well, but I could tell Aedeka wasn't astride a fox any longer (thank God!). Sure, the creature beneath still had the adorable pointy ears, and the long, bushy tail, but that was as far as the resemblance made it. No, what Aedeka was straddling was definitely a biped, and a decidedly male biped, if their positioning was anything to go by.

The five of us sat there, openly staring at the two figures making out on the floor, unconscious of anything else going on around them. And so were we.

"Master!" a voice barked into my ear. I jumped and twisted around to look into Yoriko's laughing apple-green eyes. I frowned at him.

"What?" I snapped, embarrassed at having been caught. He shrugged, and looked off at his brother and… the person I assumed was Dakora.

"Oh, nothing," he responded airily. "Just wanted to make sure you were alright. You haven't blinked in a while, I was worried about you." He closed his eyes, smiling a little.

"Tch. Yeah, right, sure you were." I waited a moment, then, "Hey, Yoriko?" His smile widened and he opened one eye.

"Yeees," he drawled. I looked back to the two entwined on the floor.

"Uh, is that Dakora? I mean, I know it wouldn't make sense for it to be anyone else, but… is Dakora, isn't it?" He followed my gaze.

"It is. But wait a few days, and it won't be." I made a face.

"I'm not following you." He grinned.

"That's okay, Master, you're slow." I bristled, but he continued. "Remember when I told you he was insane?" I nodded. He shrugged. "I wasn't kidding. His last Master cursed him with an alternate personality. Chaotic, ruthless, evil as sin. So far, nobody's been able to figure out what triggers it, and Aedeka's the only one who's been able to control him when he changes."

"So, he's violent when he'd changed?" Yoriko nodded.

"He was just coming down from a switch when your friend drew him. Wreaking havoc's tiring work. That's why he didn't put up a fight: he'd been sleeping it off." He grinned. "Poor baby." I swallowed hard.

"What'd he do?" Yoriko shrugged.

"This time? I dunno, I wasn't there, but like I said, he's nuts. He's done a lot of crazy stuff. Once, he managed to set an ocean on fire, I've seen him challenge and completely slaughter entire armies, and both times, it was out of sheer boredom. What he does depends on his mood, but he usually works most of the… stress… off with Aedeka." The new smirk on his face told me everything I needed to know about that particular method of relief.

"Well, you said he was violent when he changed, right? What's he like now?" He winked and turned to his brother.

"What, no kiss for me, Dako?" he called, pretending to pout.

"Yoriko!" It was same adorable, squeaky voice we'd heard before. "Oh, oh, hurry, get off! Adeki-_ko_! Come on! Come on, up, get up!"

Aedeka growled, looking up at his brother. "Bastard, you did that on purpose." Even as he said this, he rolled off the now-squirming body beneath him. Laughing, Dakora dropped a quick kiss on Aedeka's nose and scrambled to his feet, then sprinted towards a grinning Yoriko, arms outstretched.

You know, I just don't take good care of my heart. I wouldn't be surprised if it decided to quit on me, after all I'd put it through.

This new (and improved!) Dakora was just as sexy as the others. His short hair was the same colors as his fur, red, orange, and yellow, shot through with black. As I mentioned before, he still had fox ears and the tail, and his eyes were still a perfect honey-gold. Yeah, objectively, the kid was really very hot.

Only, that was the problem: he was a friggin' _kid_!

If Loeke looked seventeen, then Dakora looked at least three years younger. They were about the same size, but while Loeke's severe 'tude problem and the fact that he was obviously highly sexualized compensated for his sylphlike appearance, Dakora's slender figure was amplified by his sweet, little-kid personality. I watched as he jumped into Yoriko's arms, giggling. God, he looked so innocent!

…I chose to conveniently forget about the way he'd been making out with him, that it was most _definitely_ consensual.

"You shouldn't," a voice whispered. I turned to see Loeke beside me, staring almost emotionlessly at his lover and the small boy he was holding.

"You talking to me?" He looked at me pointedly, and I noticed that Quatre and the others were all a good ten feet away. Oh. "Wait, you can read minds, too?" He rolled his nearly colorless eyes.

"We all can. What I'm telling you is this: don't attempt to see Dakora as innocuous. He may behave like child, and he is naïve; he's young, but he's no innocent, especially when… well, I assume you've heard of his other personality?" I nodded, and he looked back to the demon pair and smiled. I looked back to the demon pair and gasped. Yoriko was holding him and smiling, as Dakora kissed him furiously, long legs wrapped tightly around his waist. The black-haired demon's eyes were open, and when he noticed us, he grinned wider and winked. I stared at Loeke incredulously.

"And you were pissed at _me_!" He shrugged.

"_You_ were acting like a whore," he accused sharply. I gaped. I was _not_!… "_This_ doesn't mean anything to Dakora, he does the same thing to almost everyone else. It's his way of expressing friendship… l-love." I noticed Loeke had a hard time saying that word, but I said nothing. After all, I am Duo Maxwell, King of Tact. "It's just how he does things."

"What, he's never heard of a handshake?" I asked as Yoriko kissed the giggling boy one last time and set him down. Dakora scampered over to his wide-eyed Master and tackle-hugged him, tail wagging. Loeke looked away.

"It's… complicated. And a very long story. Eventually, you will know of our pasts. Judging from the type of person I see you to be, I will warn you now, you won't like them." I balked.

"Huh? Why won't I like them? And how do you know what type of person I am?" Why did so many people know shit about me they shouldn't!

"I'm an empath," he said tonelessly.

Oh. Well, that explained it. "Is that why Quatre ended up choosing you?"

"Yes. I was the best match for him. That and… other things." Oooh, mysterious.

I was about to ask him more questions when the door to the Chamber opened. Urai stood there, looking disgruntled (ha! Betcha thought I'd forgotten about my favorite word, didn't you? Well, I _didn't_!).

"Boys." She sounded…. I don't even know. She didn't sound angry, she definitely didn't sound happy, but it wasn't just neutral, either. It was more like a complete lack of emotion. Worried, I started towards her.

"Urai? Hey, you alright?" She looked at me sadly, and said nothing. Fuck, something was wrong.

"If you all would please call your amplifiers, I would like to… explain a few things to you." I was really nervous, now and quickly gestured for Yoriko to come over.

Once we were standing in front of the door, demons in tow, she looked levelly at each of us. "I see that you have all Drawn amplifiers, and I would like to congratulate you on this. It is rare for everyone in a group, especially when they are all children, to succeed." She looked down. "However…. You all are aware of your powers, yes?" We nodded and she looked to Quatre. "Quatre, you Drew the demon you did because of his empathic abilities, and because he can manipulate temperature, allowing you control over ice as well. Trowa," she said, skipping me. "You drew the demon you did because he controls and can create fire, and will greatly intensify your own power. Heero, your demon will significantly increase your alchemic capabilities, and Wufei, yours will allow you to control light, and all of its components." She turned to me. Finally. "Duo. Most demons are Drawn due to their Master's greatest strength. You are an Earth mage, a Green mage, meaning you have control over the Earth and all that comes out of it. However, somehow you possess a greater strength than that, a different Gift, one neither the scepter nor I detected because of its rarity." I looked around, not comprehending.

"…Aaannd?" I prompted. She looked away. Damn it, what the hell was going on!

"All in the demon world are subject to The Drawing," she said. "Fate chooses which demons you are to Draw, or not to, and that is final. There is nothing any of the Elders, or I, can do to change what Fate has determined. These are your amplifiers, regardless of any of their histories." She sighed. "However, there are things we cannot understand, one being how all five of you managed to Draw the demons you did." She looked around at them. "Veda, Aedeka, Loeke, Dakora, all well-known and exceptionally powerful demons." I noticed she skipped over Yoriko, who smirked knowingly.

Heero frowned. "Urai, what's the problem? I understand it may be an unusual coincidence that we all managed to Draw, and powerful amplifiers at that, but what's _wrong_?" Urai sighed.

"The problem is not so much that you all managed to Draw, or that you all Drew impressive amplifiers. The reason for our confusion is fact that the five of you _children_ succeeded in Mastering the ones that you did Draw." She closed her eyes. "And we are the most distressed you managed to Draw Yoriko, Duo." I gulped.

"And why is that… distressing?"

"Because he's a Dark amplifier." …Mmhmm…. "The Dark Gift is one no one in over ten thousand years has possessed." She opened her eyes and looked into mine. "Until you, Duo." …And_ why _is_ that distressing_…?

"Wait, I thought you said Duo was a green mage, or whatever," Quatre argued. The others and I looked expectantly at her for an answer.

"He is that, too. Another reason we are so confused. It is exceptionally rare for a mage to possess two different Gifts. Like Heero, many Earth mages are alchemists. Alchemic aptitude is not a Gift, but a branch of magic. Duo, you possess two entirely separate, and categorically different Gifts." She sighed deeply. "Strange as this is, that still is no the real problem." I huffed.

"Then what _is_ the problem, Urai! God, you still haven't answered that yet!" I didn't mean to get angry, but dammit, she was still talking in circles! I wanted to know what the problem was!

Yoriko laughed and draped himself over me. "Poor Master," he crooned, grinning up at Urai. She frowned at him.

"Duo, the reason we are so distressed at the outcome of your Drawing is-" Before she could finish, a demon, if his size and the long claws on his hands were any indication, appeared scowling blackly in the doorway, a gargantuan pike in his hands, and Yoriko in his sights.

"Is because that little bastard was _cursed_ to never leave his purgatory."

Yoriko looked up, dark recognition flashing in his green eyes. "_You_!" he hissed venomously. The two charged each other simultaneously.

Loeke hissed and scrambled to get out of the way. "MOVE, you idiot!" he screamed at me, as I was caught, frozen, in the crossfire.

After that, I decided that I loved Loeke. I really did. I would have done absolutely anything in the world he told me to. Anything. Because at that moment, he grabbed me by my braid (ouch!) and yanked me brutally sideways (OUCH!), just in time for him to save me from the huge weapon on a collision course with my body (which would have OUCHed a helluva lot more.)

And here I thought, with all we'd been through so far, things could only get better. I figured, we had to have go through the worst already. I figured we'd be granted magic powers, and we'd have our amplifying demon-thingys, and I'd be a kick-ass sorcerer dude who made things grow because I was Green and made things… dark because I was Dark. (If you can't tell, I still had no clue what I could actually _do_, yet.) Yep, I figured we'd all know what was happening in this crazy world by the end of this chapter.

I am so stupid.

**:OOOOOOOOOOOOO:**

Yay, that's the update! I thought it was way better, but, again, please let me know if I'm wrong! Okay, so I plan to have the next chapter up within the next two days, so I'll announce the "contest" winners then… if any of you actually care… eep! Anyways, reviews are like junk food to me, I can never get enough! Please feed me!


	4. Character Reference

Character Reference 

Hey, guys. I'm sorry, I realize I'm adding a lot of new characters, complex personalities, and the very beginnings of an actual plot. So, I created Dancin4Duo's Essential Elements Comprehensive Character Dictionary©, just in case you forget somebody, or are confused about anything happening so far. The guide will give you a better mental image of the characters: their physical traits, personalities, and powers. Also, it'll provide inside information on some of them, info you wouldn't know yet….

_**MAIN/IMPORTANT (or Relatively Important) CHARACTERS:**_

**G-Boys:**

Duo Maxwell

Green mage

Power: eco/florakinetic (manipulate the earth and plants)

Quatre Winner

Water mage

Power: hydrokinetic (manipulate water)

Heero Yuy

Air mage/Alchemist

Power: aerokinetic (manipulate the air/wind; alchemic transmutation)

Trowa Barton

Fire mage

Power: pyrokinetic (manipulate fire)

Wufei Chang

Light mage

Power: photokinetic (manipulate light)

**Temple Characters:**

-"Brother/Sister" Mages

Razyokai Lai'Isala (aka: Razyo, Raze, Raz)

Physical Appearance: Male; green and black hair, one gray and one brown eye (shhhh! Duo hasn't noticed the color of _both_ his eyes yet)

Green mage/ Healer (Duo's Brother)

In love with Kyo

Personality: he's frighteningly similar to Duo

Kyokeido Jarael (aka: Kyo)

Physical Appearance: Male; black hair, ice blue eyes

Water mage/Halcyon (Quatre's Brother)

Urai's grandson

Personality: cold, unsociable, detached

Seiren Amathus

Physical Appearance: Male; black hair, brown eyes

Earth mage/Alchemist, (Heero's Brother); also the Palace Historian

Personality: bouncy, energetic, overly helpful

Taiga Daelian- half-demon

Physical Appearance: Male; red hair, gray eyes, orange and white tail and ears

Fire-mage/Smith (Trowa's Brother)

Personality: very quiet, reserved, kindhearted

Shoria Lai'Isala (aka: Shori, Sho)

Physical Appearance: Female (Raz's little sister); brown hair, silver eyes

Light mage/Luminant (Wufei's Sister)

Personality: thinks all men are idiots (this most likely stemmed from living with Razyo), hot-tempered, easily flustered (…much like a certain Altron pilot…. ;)

-_ Demons (Amplifiers)_

Yoriko (aka: Yori, 'Ko)

Duo's Amplifier – Green orb

Physical Appearance: Male; longish black hair, lime green eyes, wings, tail, claws & fangs, dark purple tongue (hehee!)

Shadow (Demon)/Incubus; **insanely** **powerful** (gotta wait till the next chap for his powers)

Loeke's mate; Aedeka's younger brother

Personality: sadistic, depraved, libertine, vulgar, manipulative, quick-witted, constantly at odds w/ Aedeka

Why he was chosen as Duo's Amplifier: Yoriko was summoned by Duo's innate but dormant Dark gift (boy, that sounds corny). The fact that Duo could wield Dark magic was strange in and of itself, as no human in centuries has been able to, and it meant that he had the capacity to fullycontrol Yoriko. Remember: Yoriko is cursed (details to follow)

Loeke (aka: Loke, Ke-ko)

Quatre's Amplifier – Silver Orb

Physical Appearance: Male; waist-length white hair, pale skin, pale silver eyes, fangs

Siren/Ice Demon; cryokinetic (manipulate temperature) –water /plus/ extreme cold /equals/ ice (gotta wait till the next chap for his powers)

Yoriko's mate; Dakora's friend since childhood

Personality: cold, unfriendly, slow to trust, aloof, extremely cynical, has a Yoriko fetish (you'll see later)

Why he was chosen as Quatre's Amplifier: The main reason Quatre ended up calling to Loeke was the fact that Loeke was cursed to stay with Yoriko. (dancin4duo, in an annoying singsong voice: "You'll see later!":) Loeke was an ice amplifier, and an empath, like Quatre, so it was the most logical, obvious choice for him. He was relieved that Quatre Drew him because sensed that Quatre was a genuinely gentle person, and due to his relationships with his previous masters (Chorus: "You'll see later!"), this was a characteristic he'd desperately desired.

Aedeka (aka: Adeki-ko)

Heero's Amplifier – Lavender orb

Physical Appearance: Male; short silver hair, light purple eyes, fangs, claws

Alchemic Amplifier/Incubus; (gotta wait till the next chap for his powers)

Dakora's mate; Yoriko's elder brother

Personality: incredibly intelligent, playful, overprotective, usually slow to anger, intensely loyal

Why he was chosen as Heero's Amplifier: Heero drew Aedeka mainly because of the fact that Heero was as strong in heart and body as Aedeka. They are both leaders and, more-or-less reliable, dedicated people. They're also level-headed and calm in the face of adversity. Add to that the fact that he's an Alchemic Amplifier, and they are a perfect match. Another reason Aedeka was called to Heero was because he was, like Loeke, cursed to stay with Yoriko (YSL…)

Dakora (aka: Dako, 'Kora)

Trowa's Amplifier – Honey-gold orb

Physical Appearance: Male; short black and red, yellow, and orange hair, golden eyes (changes into a large red, yellow, and orange fox with black legs and feet, muzzle, and black-tipped ears and tail)

Intensifier/Fox-Demon; (gotta wait till the next chap for his powers)

Aedeka's mate; Loeke's friend since childhood

Personality: youngest and most affectionate of the 5 demons, very nice, boisterous, passionate, spontaneous, innocent except in the areas of destruction and sex, schizophrenic (you'll have to wait for a full description of the other personality;)

Why he was chosen as Trowa's Amplifier: Dakora was drawn by Trowa's abilities as a fire mage. For a demon youth, Dakora is very powerful, but because he is so young (by demon standards), his powers are volatile and unstable. He needed a master that could control his curse, which was his second personality (you'll see later… _again_.) Dakora is also the type of person/demon that loves seeking loners out, and drawing them in, hence the fact that he and his beloved Adeki-ko are together. Dakora liked the type of person he saw Trowa to be, and allowed himself to bound himself to the boy. (A demon willingly binding themselves to their master is rare; they usually try to make it painful, in an attempt to discourage their prospective masters from continuing the process as you can see in Chapter 3)

Veda (aka: Veda-ka intentionally feminized, V)

Wufei's Amplifier – Yellow orb

Physical Appearance: Male; short light blue hair, yellow eyes, very tall (changes into giant black dragon… but you don't know that yet… ;)

Intensifier/Dragon (cliché, I know, I'm sorry…); (gotta wait till the next chap for his powers)

Has never felt the need to seek out a mate, thinks love is foolish

Personality: exactly like Wufei (solitary, strong sense of justice and honor, chauvinistic)

Why he was chosen as Wufei's Amplifier: …Actually, the reason Wufei drew Veda was because they were so very alike. Veda was a perfect pick because he's an Intensifier. He's the oldest, most mature, and most serious of the five demons. He's also the most easily flustered (like Wufei), which makes him the perfect target for… certain people (coughyorikoduoanddakoracoughcough). On a more serious note, Veda was also cursed. (and you'll see why _later_)

_-Not-As-Prominently Featured, But Still Important Characters_

Urai- Head Healer/ Duo's teacher, Kyo's grandmother

Sukibera- Urai's plant spirit (haha!)

Simon mon Baelemar- Temple Master (like a priest)

Hao Fenrir- Yoriko's former master (you'll find out about him later)

_-Words:_

–ano/ -ana: m/f term of affection; close friend (human)

-kido/-kida: m/f term of affection; lover (human)

-ko/-ka: m/f term of affection; lover (demon)

karo: swearword

A/N- As I introduce new information and charas, I'll add to the list. 

* * *

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	5. To Be, or Not to Be

Chapter 5

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV

Rating: (changed to R) language, violence

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5xS (changed m' mind!; later in the story) Y/L, A/D

Disclaimer: No, I don't own the G-boyz (a fact that makes me cry to this day). I do, however, own everyone in this fic who's not in GW. Go me!

A/N: Hey. Whoo, guess I've got a lot to clarify, so here goes: First of all, I do NOT hate Wufei; I, in fact, love him very, very much. I really had no idea what a prick he was coming across as, so I promise that in the future, Wu will be much… better. And to all that have pointed it out to me, yes, Heero is kind of OOC, isn't he? Not to worry, though, I will fix him! He will also be… better. (As a side note, Chapter 3 has been revised, so take a look and see if I fixed them right, okay?) And yes, there are lots of new characters in my story, but, again, not all of them are important, and they won't be there forever, so please don't freak. However, if you are absolutely, 100 percent adverse to and hate new, original characters, you may want to slowly back away from this story. And, that about finishes everything I had to say! Thanks a bunch guys, for sticking with this story, it really means a lot to me! Now, onto the new chappie! (Sorry, it's a lil' shorter than I'd planned it to be...)

"Speech."

_Thoughts._

_Telepathy_.

**Chapter 5: To Be, or Not to Be **

**:ooooo:**

"I hate you."

"You know, you keep sayin' that."

"No, really, I _hate_ you."

"Yeah. I think we've established this, already you've said it, like, fifty times."

"I want you to die."

"We've had this conversation before, too, man, I know already."

"_Slowly_."

"Oookay."

"I hope-"

"For God's sake, Yoriko, shut up, I get it!" I snapped, turning to face him on the bench in the gazebo we were currently occupying. He made a face at me, that was supposed to be intimidating, but it was ruined by his sudden wince. He turned accusatorially to his brother.

"That hurts, damn it," he growled. Aedeka shrugged and continued his ministrations.

"Well, you shouldn't 'a started a fight you couldn't finish, Brat," he said calmly, ignoring the rage on Yoriko's face. I looked over at Veda and Wufei, who were meditating, and then up at the perfectly clear blue sky, wishing that it was as tranquil over here.

One of the Elders, looking incredibly uncomfortable, had come back into the Drawing room and escorted us into the gigantic lush garden we'd passed through before, informing us that the Heads of our respective temples would be coming to collect us shortly. After that, we would be shown to our rooms, and there, we would get ready for the Welcoming Ceremony to be held later in the evening. The entire time, the man had watched Yoriko warily, as though if he didn't keep an eye on the demon, injured or not, he'd be killed. Yoriko, of course, had taken offense to this, and had snarlingly informed the man that he wasn't a savage. This little display of ferocity only caused the Elder to freeze up, and then run into the temple, as if the hounds of Hades were hot on his heels.

For an old guy, I tell ya, that guy could move!

Yoriko's rumbling growl brought me back to the present. "I didn't fucking start it, you saw what happened! I didn't do anything to anyone at all, and he acts like he has the right to come barging in there, accusing me of shit! And I would've finished the damn fight, if it hadn't been for _him_," he sneered, jerking a thumb in my direction. I rolled my eyes and threw up my hands.

"So what, you wanted to get killed? Urai told me to stop you, and I did. Besides, you were getting your ass kicked! That guy was three times bigger that you, man, and he was armed! What were you gonna do, kiss him to death? Seduce him 'till he surrendered?" He bristled and hissed, narrowing lime-colored eyes in anger.

Let me back up. You remember the demon dude who burst in the room with his big-ass spear and bigger-ass vendetta against my amplifier? The one who nearly freakin' ran me through? Yeah, that's the one, good job!

Ok, so, yeah, that new demon and Yoriko decided it would be cool to try and kill each other in the Drawing room, but Urai decided that wouldn't be the best idea, for some reason….

* * *

_/Flashback/_

"Duo, stop him!" Urai panicked, grabbing the front of my shirt and shaking me a little. Loeke was screaming to Yoriko what an idiot he was, Aedeka and Veda were arguing, and Dakora was… grinning widely, watching the fight through half-lidded eyes. I had no idea what the fox-boy was doing, but I didn't have time to think about him, at the moment.

Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Quatre were standing around me and Urai, doing nothing as they watched the old woman physically assault me. Some friends I had….

Urai shook me again, harder this time, just as something heavy slammed into the ground. Let me emphasize this: _into_ the ground. We all looked over to see Yoriko roll nimbly out of the small crater he'd created in the Drawing room floor. He raised a questioning hand to his face, feeling the blood trickling steadily from his mouth, eyes widening. He pulled his hand away, stared at it in disbelief, then glared blackly up at the brown-haired demon hovering above him. "You bastard son of a bitch!" he raged, starting towards him. The other demon grinned and began twirling his pike like a baton.

"Come on, little Yoriko," he boomed overhead. "Surely this isn't all you've got? Where's your legendary temper? Show me, boy, what powers you've acquired since we last sparred. Reveal to me the reason for your curse, what's causing elders in this temple to quake in fear." His grin widened as Yoriko stumbled a little. "Unless it's not really true? Are your so-called-immeasurable powers an exaggeration? Have they played up your abilities over the centuries, Yoriko? Have you-"

"Do you ever shut up?" my amplifier demanded. I looked up at Yoriko, and I could tell something wasn't right. His eyes seemed weird to me…. Urai cursed.

"Duo! You have to stop him, now! Are you listening to me, Duo? Stop him, _now_, before it's too late!"

Too late for what, man? Why does everything have to be done in such a rush around here?

However frustrated was, though, I valiantly shook myself out of my funk and nodded to the woman, taking a quick look back at my friends who were all still staring at the spectacle before them. Alright, time for Duo the Man to take control. I took a deep, cleansing breath, and started cautiously forward, hoping that stopping the demon wouldn't be any harder than before.

"Yoriko!" I shouted, close enough for him to hear me, but not close enough to be in danger of becoming a human shish kebab. Yoriko turned to me, fangs bared in a cruel snarl, eyes flickering between the hovering demon and myself.

"Don't you dare," he warned. I got a clearer look at him, and knew something was definitely up. His eyes were glowing and it felt like some sort of field was gathering around him. It gave the term "negative aura" a whole new meaning. I ignored the fact that it made my skin crawl, and started again.

"Yoriko, stop it," I commanded. He made an agonizingly frustrated sound in the back of his throat, but turned back to face the other demon, anyway. I could tell it hurt him, though, because he flinched as soon as he did it. The pike-wielding demon snorted.

"That's your new Master, then?" he scoffed. Hey, hey, hey, now, where does he get off scoffing at Shinigami?

When Yoriko stiffened defensively, he laughed. "You're slave to a child, Yoriko? Hm, he fits you, I think." Disregarding the pain of disobeying me, Yoriko snarled and jumped, launching himself into the air.

I was ready for him.

"Yoriko, I demand that you ignore him, stop fighting altogether, and get your ass back on the ground right this second!" I shouted. Oh, yeah, those were orders so precise, I think even Dr. J may have given them at one point in time. I'm glad he's dead.

Yoriko froze in midair for a second, struggling against his commands. He doubled over (something that looked really silly when you were flying) and managed to turn and glare at me. I can honestly say that it was one that put Heero's to shame.

"Y-You little-" he started to say, but was cut off, as the demon above him decided to play really, really dirty. He raced towards the immobile Yoriko and ran him viciously through, the cruel tip of the enormous spear exiting cleanly out of the smaller demon's back. I stared, horrified, and heard Quatre scream.

What the fuck, man? I stopped him because Urai said something bad was gonna happen if I didn't, not so this bastard could have the opportunity to _kill_ him!

And who was going to amplify my magic powers now?

Yoriko opened his mouth in an 'o' of shock, eyes wide and unseeing. He made a tiny, choking sound, and the other demon took the opportunity to ram the spear in further, bringing himself and Yoriko nose-to-nose in the air. Grinning sadistically, the monster murmured something in Yoriko's ear that made the black-haired demon curl his lips in disgust. "Bastard," he gurgled. The other demon shrugged, then suddenly spun his weapon in a huge arc, with Yoriko still impaled on it. He swung it sharply downwards, sending my wounded amplifier hurtling to the floor. I still couldn't do anything but stare in mute horror as he hit the ground hard, a small jet of blood bursting from his open mouth. The demon in the air chuckled darkly before beginning his descent, towards the prone figure on the ground. He was intercepted, however, by a pair of narrowed yellow eyes.

Veda (who'd 'a thought, huh?) glared ferociously. "I dare you," he threatened coldly. "Dishonorable coward." The brown-haired demon sneered, and made as if to go around him, when a loud, forbidding growl alerted him of another presence.

Dakora had changed into his fox-self, and stood bristling beside Yoriko, every hair on his sizeable body standing on end, two-inch teeth bared in an enraged snarl. He snapped his jaws pointedly and took a step towards the pike-demon, a very clear threat.

Huh. So Dakora really wasn't just a cute, pretty face, after all.

Speaking of pretty faces….

"Get out." Aedeka whispered softly. He looked emotionless, but it was clear that he was anything but, as he stared down the unwanted presence. When the demon made no move to obey him, his eyes flashed. "_Now._"

I decided he was perfect for Heero.

The way they could instill terror with just one word, one dark look, was uncanny.

The demon sniffed, but clearly understood that he would be brutally maimed if he stayed any longer, and headed towards the door. At the same time, Loeke walked towards his felled lover. They passed each other, and as they did, the brown-haired demon leered nastily, looked over at Yoriko, and did something unthinkable.

He reached out and grabbed a handful of the Loeke's ass.

Gasp!

I didn't even have time to blink before the pike-demon was roaring in agony, his face now a gory mess. Loeke, seemingly unruffled, continued his trek towards his Yoriko and the others, placidly licking his dripping red fingers. I shuddered, indescribably disturbed. (C'mon, wouldn't you be?)

Urai sighed deeply. She escorted the howling demon out of the room, murmuring under her breath how impossible this was going to be, and shut the door behind her. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, Heero and I stared after her.

We stood there for a moment before a low groan reminded me of what had just happened. "Yoriko!" I shouted, and barreled over to where he was laying. The others followed, not two steps behind me.

I shoved my way between Veda and Dakora to kneel next to my fallen amplifier. He looked terrible, the gaping wound in his torso notwithstanding. His face was spattered with blood, and there were cuts and bruises all over his body; his upper lip was split, and one of his wings was bent out at an odd angle, broken.

I choked back a groan. Damn it! I didn't mean for this to happen, this wasn't supposed to happen! Both Quatre and Loeke looked at me, having picked up on my feelings. Q's face filled with concern and understanding, Loeke's with fury.

"Well, then, you shouldn't've stopped him, then, should you?" the towheaded demon snapped coldly. I hung my head. What do you say to the grieving lover of the person you practically handed to his killer?

"I'm sorry." That's always a good one.

Loeke sucked his teeth irritably. "Well, you should be. Thanks to you, there's no way I'll be doing anything other than sleeping with him tonight."

Whaa?

Is that a normal response for a person who's one and only lover lay dying before them? Was Loeke only with Yoriko for the sex? Were they-

"No, Ke-ko." Daaamn, _daaamn_, _DAAAMN_ you for interrupting my deep, brooding thoughts! But, wait… was that…? "I'll be fine, I promise," Yoriko whispered quietly. As if his body were mocking him, he suddenly coughed harshly, blood spraying between the fingers covering his mouth. He grimaced. "Shit. Okay, so it'll take a while, baby, but, please, come on, honey, I-"

"You're going to be alright, then?" Heero asked, interrupting Yoriko's (pathetic) pleading. He was eyeing him in a way only a soldier could; evaluating damage, calculating blood loss, estimating recovery time. Yoriko looked offended.

"Please, you think this is bad? That bastard's just lucky I'm outta shape, and all my powers haven't returned yet, or I would've fuckin-"

Something dawned on me.

"Wait, you're really okay? You're not gonna die?" I asked, excited. (So what if I'm a little behind everyone else, I figured it out, didn't I?) Yoriko looked at me, sneering.

"No, you half-wit, I'm not going to die… no thanks to you." Aedeka turned to his brother.

"Well, Yori, if he hadn't stopped you, you might have killed all of us." Yoriko snorted. Or, at least, he tried to, but it was interrupted by another cough.

"Like I give a flying fuck about any of you." I could tell by the low hiss of air Loeke sucked in, and the tiny whimper Dakora let out, that Yoriko had just said the wrong thing. Even Aedeka stiffened.

_Ooooohh_.

"Oh, well, not you guys, per se. I mean, aw, come on, Lok, Dako, I didn't mean-" But he might as well have not been saying anything. By that time, Loeke had already risen and stalked to the other side of the room, to his Master, and Dakora plodded, ears lowered and tail between his legs, to his. Trowa reached out and gently began scratching behind the fox's ears, eliciting a tiny smile and a slow tail-wag from the demon. Loeke was practically hiding behind Quatre, and the two were conversing in low voices.

Well, fine, nobody wanted to hear your dumb secrets, anyway.

Veda had somehow mysteriously floated away, and Aedeka sighed and got to his feet, muttering darkly under his breath. "You don't care, huh? Then how come _I'm_ always the one you look to patch your sorry ass up, huh Yori? Fuck it, this gets so old." He trailed off, still murmuring to himself. I dared to look down at Yoriko who was now scowling petulantly.

"So, looks like you're in deep shit with your friends, huh?" His glared balefully up at me.

"I hate you." I sighed, and stood up.

"Whatever, Yori." His scowl deepened.

"No, really, I hate you."

_/End Flashback/_

* * *

"You really think that's all I can do, don't you?" Yoriko asked me with a sly grin. I looked up at him quizzically. 

"What?" His grin widened and he shifted his weight on the marble bench, allowing himself to get a better look at me.

And, let's not kid ourselves, who wouldn't want to get a better look at me?

"You really think all my powers are- fucking hell, Aedeka, that _hurts_!" he screamed. The silver-haired demon muttered an insincere apology and went back to setting the broken bones in his wing. Yoriko growled darkly at his brother and turned back at me, his breathing a little rough. "You really do think all my powers are sexual, don't you? That all I can do is seduce people and put them in thrall?" I shrugged.

"Well, you haven't exactly proven to me you're good for anything else, yet. I mean, you got totally trashed by that big guy, and all you've done other than that is get on my nerves and make out with Loeke." It was my turn to grin, now. "Looks like you won't be getting any anytime soon, though, pal. He's still mad at you." Yoriko hissed at me, turning away for the moment.

It was true, Loeke was the only one who hadn't forgiven him yet. With a kiss, a smiling apology, and a few scratches behind the ears, he'd weaseled his way back into Dakora's good graces, and Aedeka seemed to be used to his brother's callous behavior, so he'd shrugged Yoriko's insult off pretty quickly. But no, Loeke wasn't having any of that. The moment Yoriko came near him, Quatre's shouted warning was all he got before the ice demon lashed out at him, fangs bared and claws at the ready.

Yoriko hadn't yet found the courage to try his luck again.

"Shut up," he sulked, crossing his arms over his chest. I noticed then, that his tattoo was in the same place as mine, winding in a serpentine pattern around his right arm. Huh. Neat.

"So, what, other than being a pervert and getting people pissed at you, can you do then, oh great and mighty demon of mine?" He seemed to perk up at the opportunity to brag on himself. Aedeka groaned behind his little brother.

"Oh, boy, here we go," he muttered. Yoriko poked his tongue out at him.

"You're just jealous, Aedeka, you know you wish you were me." Aedeka growled and pulled Yoriko's now-splinted wing a little more roughly than necessary, causing the other demon to shriek in pain.

Man, Aedeka was so cool.

"No, Yori, I don't wish I were you, and I don't want your tainted powers. Unlike yours, my abilities were attained without the sacrifice of my morals, and they don't weigh on my conscience." (Oooh, I was so intrigued!) Yoriko was still frowning at the pain in his wing, but managed to scoff at his brother.

"Ha, that's a good one, bro. But, _unlike you_, any morals I had died a long time ago, and I don't got a conscience, so nothin' I did bothers me any. Good thing, too, cause if I hadn't been _gifted_ with these powers, I woulda never met dear Duo." He threw a casual arm over my shoulder. "And I would have never been able to share them with him." Suddenly, he leered at me. Dear God, why me? "You call yourself Shinigami, God of Death, do you not?" Well, I hadn't been expecting that one. I nodded dumbly, wondering where this was going. "Well, welcome to the club."

Huh?

"What? What're you talking about, man?" Just then Dakora bounded over, looking so much like an overgrown puppy, I forgot about Yoriko's senseless blathering for a moment.

_Hey, Adeki-ko, what'cha doin_? he inquired, wriggling and squirming in that way only dogs can without actually moving. Aedeka looked up and smiled at his lover.

"I'm patching this ungrateful little bastard up, baby, why?" He said this, even as he thwacked his brother soundly on the back, eliciting a loud yelp.

So, so cool.

Dakora wiggled some more, making little whining sounds in the back of his throat. _I'm bored, Aedeka__. I wanna plaaay._ He cocked his head to the side and bowed the front half of his body low. _Play with me. _Aedeka laughed, leaned forward, and kissed him on the tip of his wet nose.

"In a minute, I just gotta finish setting _this_ wing-" he tugged aforementioned wing mercilessly, and Yoriko, predictably, howled (_so_ effing cool.) "-and I'll be all done, okay?" Dakora growled a little, but said nothing. Aedeka smiled and ruffled his ears. "Why don't you go play with your Master, then, hon? He looks lonely over there." I turned to see Trowa, indeed alone, sitting on a rock in the middle of the huge garden we were in. He was smiling the tiniest bit, and following his intense gaze, I immediately knew why.

That _dog_!

In his enraged swipe at his lover, Loeke had accidentally ripped Quatre's shirt, shredding most of it. Quatre apparently gotten fed up with the useless shirt and was in the process of taking it off. Very slowly. Judging from the way Q was deliberately showing off the curves of his body, though, I'm guessing he knew Trowa was watching. In fact, I'm willing to venture a bet that Trowa's watching was the only reason he took his shirt off in the first place.

That _dog_!.

In the meantime, Dakora seemed to find his lover's idea to be a good one, and he barreled over to the rock and his seemingly pensive Master. Trowa had just enough time to let out a startled "WAUGH!" before he landed hard on his back, with a chestful of fox. From our vantage point, all we could see was a frantically wagging tail and flailing arms. Yoriko chuckled.

"You gonna tell me you're not jealous of that, too?" he asked, inclining his head towards to two. Aedeka answered him with a sharp tug to his ebony tresses. Yoriko winced and rubbed the sore spot on his head, glaring at him.

"Shut up, and, no, I'm not. At least _my_ lover isn't threatening to castrate me the next time I come within ten feet of him." I laughed at that and was rewarded with a dark look. When I didn't shut up, Yoriko slapped me hard, on the back of the head. Oww!

"At least I _have_ a lover," he jeered. I looked away.

Curse him for being right.

I looked back to the rock, where Quatre seemed to have stop trying to actively seduce Trowa, and the two were engaged in a seemingly futile attempt to wrestle Dakora to the ground. I sighed, a thing that went unnoticed by neither of the demons beside me. Yoriko was suddenly too close to me.

"What is it?" he asked. I jerked myself out of my reverie and stared into his bright green eyes. I shook my head and looked away.

"Nothin'. I just don't know how two people could be so damned blind. I mean, look at them!" I'd chosen the perfect moment to point to them, as Dakora had abruptly stood up, deciding sniffing the grass would be more interesting that playing, with Quatre still on his back. The blond, unprepared for the sudden movement, fell off the fox's back into Trowa's outstretched arms. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, then blushed and looked away. "God, they're so sweet together, they make my teeth hurt! How do they not _see_ that?" I threw myself backwards, and looked up into the dome ceiling of the white gazebo, totally missing the pointed look the two brothers shared over the top of my head. Grumbling to myself, I sat back up and noticed Dakora staring at us from across the garden. Aedeka tilted his head, smiling, and made a shooing motion with his hands. The fox-demon suddenly did a crazy little jump-wiggle thing, and bolted across the lawn, barking madly. He stopped, once, to suddenly drag the side of his head along the plush grass.

Okay, _that_ was weird.

"So, you don't understand how two people can be obnoxiously, emotionally blind to each other, either, huh, Duo?" Aedeka asked. Hearing the smile in his voice, I looked over at him, to see that he did, indeed, look smugly amused about something. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable, I turned to my other side to find Yoriko wearing a similar smirk, one long, clawed finger on his lips.

Now, I may not be the fastest car on the racetrack sometimes, but even I could figure out that this had "bad" written all over it.

"What do you want?" I asked warily. They shared another smile.

"You really like him, don't you? My Master, I mean?" I sighed.

Yep, this was bad.

Yoriko laughed like the deranged lunatic he truly was. "Aw, come on, now, Master, you can't deny. You run, you hide, but you never lie, right?" Frowning I turned to him.

"Hey, first of all, you stay the fuck outta my head, you got that? I don't need you throwing my own damned catch phrase back at me, thanks much. And second of all…." Both of them were leering at me, now.

I guess it's kinda pointless to try and keep secrets from people who can read your mind, huh? "…yes." Their smirks grew broader.

"Well, Master, you remember when you asked me what else I could do?" I nodded, hope blooming in my heart. What if there was some way he could convince Heero to come out to me, or me to him? Could he come up with some sort of spell to make us more bold? Yoriko laughed. "No, but I could possess you." I blanched.

"Huh?" He shrugged, his grin still firmly in place.

"You know, possess you. I could enter your body, your mind, and make you do whatever I wanted. I could make you to admit your feelings to the one you love, whether you felt ready to or not." He chuckled again. "Although, in this case, I don't think I'll actually need to enter your body. I have other ways of making people do what I want." At the sinister tone of his voice, I paled even farther. I was only dimly aware of the door to the temple opening on the other side of the lawn.

"W-wait, you're telling me you could… make me admit it to him? Force me to? But… you'd have taken over my body… you'd be… me…." Viridian eyes, framed by long sable lashes rolled irritably.

"Yes, Master, that's what I'm telling you." I couldn't decide whether I was relieved or terrified.

Was that really what I wanted? To have no control over such an intimate act as confessing my true feelings to Heero? Granted, it would take the constant niggling fear of rejection away, but then, it wouldn't be me telling him. I might as well ask Trowa to tell him for me. And that would be cowardly. Did I want to have Heero think I was a coward, hiding behind my friend, or my demon when I should be at my most vulnerable? Wouldn't he be at his most vulnerable if he asked me? Would I-

"For pity's sake, stop with the internal running dialogue, please, you're giving me a fucking headache!" Aedeka laughed at his brother's dramatic outburst and looked back to me. I suddenly became aware of heavy panting behind me, and was alerted that Dakora had return from his crack-induced romp in the grass.

"Well, Duo?" I took a deep breath. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Raz, Kyo and the other Heads of the temple had come to take us to our rooms.

"No. I… I'd rather do it myself. Number one, Yoriko, because I don't ever want you in my body." I ignored his raised eyebrow. Lecherous perv. "And number two… I do want to do it myself. I'd rather tell Heero how I feel, and face the possibility of rejection-" Aedeka rolled his lavender eyes "-than cower behind someone else and have them do my work for me. I really like Heero, and I respect him too much to take any chances. When I'm ready to tell him, and believe me, eventually, I will be, I will." Yoriko nodded slowly, still smirking.

"Well, I hate to break it to you, Master, but if I really wanted to possess you, I would anyway; you'd have not choice in the matter."

"What?" I cried out. Friggin' no way in hell was I gonna let him control me! Aedeka nodded in agreement, sobering somewhat.

"It's true. All demons can possess their Masters, but the catch is that with them, it has to be consensual. We, as incubi, however, are a special exception to that rule."

"S-so, you could make me tell Heero I wanted him… anytime you wanted?" Yoriko nodded gleefully. Oh, Lord….

"Uh-huh. But, like I said earlier, I don't have to possess you to do that." I eyed him.

"Why do you say that?" Sudden, sinister images of how he would force me to tell Heero began racing through my mind. "Why won't you have to possess me?" I asked cautiously. You can never be too cautious around these types of crazy people, you know? One minute they're talking to you, and the BOOM, they're in full control of your mind and body. He shrugged.

"Because I already have." I stared at him, uncomprehending, until he tilted his head up, eyes flicking over my shoulder, indicating that I… should… turn around….

Ohgoddamholymotherfuckingshit!

Dakora was still behind me, and obviously very pleased with himself, bushy tail wagging crazily. And I didn't blame him. For in his jaws, was Heero's shirt.

And in Heero's shirt, was Heero.

"Good job, baby, thank you," Aedeka lauded. Immediately, the little fire demon changed back into his human…ish form and leapt into his lover's arms, giggling and nuzzling his neck.

"That was fun, but can we go _please _go play _now_?" He bit his lip and grinned suggestively, looking up at Aedeka through lowered lashes. "Just you and me?" The older demon laughed and kissed him soundly. He said something else, and began walking towards the direction where the others were gathered, waiting for us, but I wasn't paying attention to him.

Heero's incredible blue eyes were locked onto my own, drowning me, and I swear, for all the pretty words I spewed earlier, I'd never felt so unguarded.

Hell'd I'd've felt more secure facing a horde of Ozzies, butt-naked with a block of ramen as a weapon!

We stood there for what felt like hours, staring at one another before I opened my mouth. "Oh, ah, uhm, hey."

Pure. Genius.

He smiled at me with the only smile in the world that had the power to pump my stomach full of butterflies, and returned my (retarded!) greeting. "Hey, Duo."

We stood there a little longer, just staring at each other. He had just opened his mouth to say something else when Razyo called us.

"Hey, come on, guys, if you wanna have a chance to get cleaned up before the celebration!"

I wanted to **_KILL_** him.

All of a sudden, Heero looked uncertain. "I… uh, Duo…-"

"Come on Duo, Heero!" That time it was Quatre.

Very well. He would die, also.

Heero took a deep breath and let it out as an explosive sigh. "Uh, can I talk to you later? Like, tonight? At the party?" He was blushing, and I found that it was easily the most endearing thing I'd ever seen.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, Heero." He gave me a small, almost shy smile, nodded once, and trotted across the lawn.

I'm sure I must have looked ridiculous, with my head cocked to the side and a loopy grin on my face, (shut up, what would _you_ have been doing in my place, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought!) so it should have come as no surprise when Yoriko laughed beside me. I remembered with a start that he had tricked me, and turned to face him, glowering.

"I hate you." I snarled. To my complete and utter shock, he smiled, a slow, genuine, friendly smile. He leaned forward and dropped a light, chaste kiss on my forehead.

"You're welcome, Master," he said softly. And with that, he began walking across the garden.

Well, hot damn. Will wonders never cease?

I stood in the gazebo for a few moment longer, before starting across the lawn, smiling to myself.

Maybe this day wasn't so bad after all.

At least, that's what I thought until I walked across an oddly squishy plot of land.

"_Awww, sick, Dakora!"_

**TBC…**

**:ooooo:**

And that's Chapter 5! It didn't take me as long as I thought it would, and for that I'm glad; I owe you guys after that 5 month break. I'm hoping I'll have another lull in my classes so I can get Chapter 6 up by next weekend, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I'd like to announce that the "winner" of the "contest" is MousyCoon! Congratulations to you, and thanks to everyone who sent me ideas, they were all really great! So great, in fact, that I might ask if I can use some of them (I promise, I'll reward you!).

Please R&R and let me know what you think of the story so far!


	6. Party Favors

Anime/Manga » Gundam Wing/AC » **Essential Elements** B s : A A A Author: dancin4duo 1. Over the River and Through the Cave 2. Reality Check! 3. New Worlds and Magic and Demons, Oh My! 4. Character Reference 5. To Be, or Not to Be 6. Party Favors Fiction Rated: T - English - Humor/Action/Adventure - Reviews: 61 - Published: 01-23-06 - Updated: 10-01-06 id:2766339

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV

This Chapter is rated **R** for language, humor, violence, and… situations

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5+S, Y/L, A/D

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. …Damn it.

A/N: Sorry this one's late, everyone, I, uh, kinda forgot to pay the electric bill, so I haven't had access to my own computer, and therefore my story, for the past two days. However, I'm back, the bill is paid, and Chapter 7 is already in progress. Unfortunately, this chapter's shorter than I had originally intended, because I kind of had a mild case of writer's block, and I didn't want to rush anything and make it sloppy. Thanks for bearing with me!

"Speech."

_Thoughts._

_Telepathy_.

**Chapter 6: Party Favors**

**:ooooo:**

After we left the Garden (and I scraped all the crap off my shoe), the five Temple Heads had mapped out a basic schedule for us: first we'd go and get cleaned up, then, we were to drop our amplifiers off at the Shrine of Riei ki Sarys (?), so that they could recover their powers (I had no idea how that was done, but the demons seemed to, so I didn't ask. S'long as I didn't have to do anything, I was cool with whatever.) After that it was off to the tailor's so we could be outfitted with the formal garments required for the Ceremony, and new wardrobe, and lastly, we would go choose a weapon to be trained with. I had no idea what we'd need a weapon for, exactly, but I was excited about it!

So, we went about doing what we were supposed to. It seemed to take forever to get to the Bathhouse; it was a huge glass building, housed in the middle of the five Temple Houses we would be living in as mages (it was still weird to say that). The inside was comfortably warm and aromatic, and we were informed that there were a total of five pools, all fit to serve different purposes. There were two for bathing, one for relaxation, and two for recreation. I'm guessing that the water itself in the bathing pool was magical, because it was a perfect temperature (really hot without being scalding, my favorite!), cloudy blue-green, and beautifully scented, and there was no need for us to use any soap (gotta love that). The bath itself was wonderful, and went off without a hitch, other than the fact that I had to physically force myself _not_ to look at Heero wet and naked. (The near-opaque water helped a little, but Yoriko's running whispered commentary on every little thing he did was torture.)

After that, we trekked all the way back to the Main Temple, over to the Shrine of Hoobiewhatsits and dumped off the kiddies.

Well, we tried to.

Dakora, in his fox form, made a huge scene, yowling and keening and whining as soon as Trowa turned away. When Aedeka and Veda tried to pick him up and haul him into the Shrine, he changed to his human…ish form, wriggled away, and ran to Trowa, latching onto him like a limpet, wailing as if to wake the dead. Numerous unsuccessful attempts were made to pry him off T's person, and eventually, the only reason he let go was the promise that we would bring him something "extra special" from the tailors'. (That and the fact that we convinced him that Aedeka would cry if he didn't stay with him. Aww, he was so gullible.) "He likes shoes," the silver-haired demon told us, stroking the head of his now-frantically apologizing lover.

"What size?" Trowa asked. Aedeka shrugged.

"The biggest ones you can find, and make sure they're leather or something close to it." I looked at the fire demon's tiny feet.

"Um, why? His feet are, like, this big." I held my thumb and middle finger about as wide apart as they would go. I wondered if it was true what they said, about guys with little feet….

Aedeka smiled ruefully. "Yeah, but so are his teeth. And the bigger the shoe, the longer it lasts... usually."

And so, with that strange but interesting nugget of information, we left our demons and our orbs with the Elder at the temple, and then set off the short distance back towards the Garden to the resident tailor's.

This is where the trouble began.

**:ooooo:**

"I'm not coming out, Raz. Find me something else to wear, or I swear, I'll stay behind this curtain all night!" Razyo sighed for the hundredth time. Ha, I was beginning to wear him down.

"Duo, you're being irrational, there's nothing wrong with what you're wearing." I huffed.

Like hell there was nothing wrong with this outfit! Behind the protection of the dressing curtain, I glared at my reflection in the mirror.

From the neck up, I really had no complaints. The tailor resided in one of the buildings surrounding the grounds of the temple, and was similar to a small department store: there was an area to get clothes, an area to get jewelry, and an area to get a makeover. Yeah, a makeover. The beautician-man took one look at me then immediately brightened and giggled (?), I guess at the prospect of having so very, very much to do. Normally, I would be adverse to just anyone doing my hair, but seeing as how I was in a magic land and all, I figured what the hell. It took him a good hour to finish all the complicated little coils and loops and braids and twists, and in the end, it was really just a glorified twist-up ponytail, but I knew the result was worth it when I made Wufei choke on the glass of water he was sipping at.

_I'm too sexy for my hair, too sexy for my hair…. _

Going a little lower on my body, there was the shirt. It wasn't _so_ bad, really; it was actually just a jade green vest-thing with a deep V-neck and ornate gold trim. It was a bit tight but, hey, who was I to complain about showing off a little skin and body proportions? Nobody, right? Right. If anything, I was doing the world a favor.

But, enough about the shirt, allow me to enlighten you as to the current source of my fury.

Here I was, Duo Maxwell, Shinigami, the only Dark mage to exist on over ten thousand years, Master of one of the most feared and dangerous demons to ever exist (supposedly; I still think Yoriko's reputation has been exaggerated), and they have the audacity to expect me to wear… this… thing!

Well, let me tell you something: Shinigami doesn't do kilts.

Hell, it wasn't even a manly kilt; it was short! And I don't know that you can have a kilt without the plaid-ness. It was deep green with gold embroidery, and in all honesty, a kilt in name only.

In fact, I think I just wished it was a kilt.

"Duo, what's wrong, what's going on in there?" Oh, great, now I had an audience.

"Nothing, Quat, I'm just kindly informing Razyo, here, that if he doesn't get me a new outfit for tonight, I won't be goin' to the party."

"Why, what's wrong with your outfit?" I grunted.

"It's not fucking gender-appropriate, that's what's wrong! I'll be damned if I go anywhere looking like this!"

"Like what, Duo, it's not like I can see you! Look, I'm sure that whatever you're wearing is fine, I mean, my outfit's pretty weird, too-" I jerked back the curtain and glared at him "-but we are in a… different…. Duo, that's a skirt." It took everything I had not to launch myself at him. Wouldn't want to _flash_ anyone in my _skirt_, now would I? I clenched my hands into fists and continued glowering at Quat, while Razyo made an exasperated sound.

"Duo, it's not a… skirt. It's traditional, lots of people will be wearing them!" I grumbled.

"Well, then they can wear theirs, then, and I can find something else. I'm serious, man, I'm not wearing this-"

"Nice skirt, Duo." I offered Trowa a glare, one that had previously been reserved for OZ soldiers and animal abusers, and then shot him the bird. He grinned widely. "No, really. It looks good on you. Not many men can pull that off, I'm impressed."

I hated him.

And he had every right to make fun of me, cause his "traditional" costume was cooler than mine.

He was wearing a pair of dark orange pants that looked like they could have been painted onto his legs, they were so tight. His yellow vest was similar to mine, only it was longer and laced up in the back, allowing for a perfect view of the long crimson tattoo down the center of his wide back. He wore a deep red sash tied at his waist, and gold wristbands decorating his wrists. Somehow, hairdresser-man managed to comb his bang back from its usual place, and I was pleased to find that T wasn't actually hiding any sort of disfigurement behind it, as I so often teased Quatre about; the skin wasn't horribly scarred, and his left eye was just as green as his right. Thank goodness.

Q's outfit was also better than mine. He had on flowing indigo pants of some light, gauzy-looking fabric, with a sleeveless pale blue shirt made of similar material. I could just make out his spell-tattoo coiled around the circumference of his slender neck. The hairdresser had feathered out his hair quite nicely, and the silver bangles on his wrists tinkled musically as he lifted a hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter.

_I_ was about to stifle his laughter with my _own_ hand to his mouth, when Trowa's grin widened. (If it got any bigger, I swear, the top of his head was going to fall off.) "How about you, Yuy? Do you think Duo pulls off the kilt look okay?"

Oh, great, this was the last thing I needed, the sexiest man alive, one who just hinted not two hours ago, that he might be interested in me, to see me in this ridiculous-

"Yeah, I… I think you look really good, Duo."

Ye gads, Heero Yuy just complimented me!

Well, then, that settled it.

The kilt stayed.

I turned to him, and probably would have embarrassed myself by gushing my thanks, had I not been stunned speechless by his Ceremony get-up (which was, needless to say, way better than mine).

Heero was the only man alive, I think, who could wear what he was wearing and have it not look like a dress. The long white duster was embroidered with pastel blue and silver designs, with a stiff standup collar, and high slits at the side of his legs (and I mean, _high_, like it would have been indecent, had he not had on the long grey leggings.) The only jewelry Heero had on was one long, thin, silver earring hanging from his left ear, and a silver band around his right upper arm. Unfortunately for the hairdresser, though I'm sure he'd tried his damndest, he had been unable to do anything to tame Heero's unruly mane. It looked like it always did: perfect.

He watched me (undress him with my eyes) stare at him, and one corner of his mouth twitched upwards in a tiny smile. We stood like that awhile before Razyo cleared his throat loudly.

"Ahem! Ah, as cute as you two are right now, Duo, you're not finished yet." I blushed brightly and shuffled over to his side, while Heero quickly found an excuse to go talk to Seiren. I was going to kill Raz, really. This was the second time he'd ruined mine and Heero's mood.

The green-haired boy held an assortment of jewelry, intended for me, I guess, smiling. "Hang on a sec," he chirped. First, he slipped a small gold cuff onto my left ear. He leaned in and draped a very thin gold chain around my neck, then twisted it and looped it around again. After that, he indicated I hold out my arms. I did, and he slid a gold armband up the length of my left arm, and then repeated the action on my left wrist, with several thin gold bangles.

Gold, gold, gold, gold, _gold_! It was almost too much to handle; I had to remind myself that this wasn't L2, thatI could be seen in public wearing this without anyone automatically assuming I'd stolen it. I turned around to look at myself in the mirror, and was pleased with what I saw. Despite the fact that I was still wearing that godawful _skirt_ (hey, just because Heero liked it, and I had decided to wear it, didn't mean I _liked_ the dumb thing) I looked pretty damn good. In the mirror, I saw Heero staring at me, smiling faintly.

Pretty damn good. Oh yeah.

I caught sight of Wufei, also, and grinned. He appeared to be trying to hide from Shoria, who was brandishing a handful of bangles like a weapon. Wufei's hair was down (it looked really good like that) and his Ceremony clothes were actually similar to Trowa's and Heero's: he had a pale yellow tunic was long enough to cover his butt, but not long enough to rob him of his dignity (God forbid 'Fei had been the one in the kilt!). His white and silver pants were fitted, but not indecently tight, like Trowa's were. Not that anyone (especially Quatre) was complaining about T's pants. Wufei's eyes were filled with apprehension as he crept around a shelf in the center of the room, trying his best not to be spotted by the young girl hunting for him.

I was going to go over and tease him, when something else caught my eye. Seiren and Taiga, Heero's and Trowa's Bother-people, had been talking to a small boy who had just entered the tailors'. I couldn't hear them, but they had apparently finished, and Taiga pointed over to Kyo, who had just finished helping Quatre get outfitted with a pair of silver slipper-shoes. Seiren said something that made the half-demon laugh, then wrap his arms around him. They smiled at each other for a moment before Taiga dipped his head in for a gentle kiss.

Turning away, I flushed hotly, feeling as though I had intruded upon their private moment. I had no idea they were together! Suddenly, something struck me. I remembered the way some guys who were in the Bathhouse had been watching us. At the time, I had chalked it up as their being curious, but now, I remembered the low voices and chuckles, the obvious stares, the lewd glances…. And then there was Raz… and at least four of the demons (I wasn't a hundred percent sure about Veda one way or the other)… and that hairstylist (oh, come on, there was no way _he_ was straight!)….

This place was queer, literally.

I immediately sought out Razyo, who was talking to the (gay) hairstylist. I waved him over and he cocked his head to the side, puzzled.

"What's up, Duo, something wrong?" he asked when he reached me. Hmm, how to phrase this tactfully….

"Dude, why does it seem like all the guys in this place are batting for the same team?" Tact. Right.

Now Raz really looked puzzled. "What? What does that mean, batting for the same team?" Oh, yeah, good one, Duo. Use the baseball analogy on a guy who lives in a world where it was a normal occurence for men to wear mini-skirts.

"Ah, okay, um, what I mean is…. Well, okay, like, you like guys, Seiren and Taiga are together, we got ogled at the Bathhouse, that hairstylist is staring at your ass…." A look of comprehension blossomed on his face. He chuckled and shook chartreuse bangs out of his eyes. I blinked. Something about his face seemed weird …. I gasped.

_Whoa, now!_

"Your eyes aren't the same color!" Razyo, who had just opened his mouth to answer my question, blinked, clearly not prepared for my sudden revelation. I looked closer. There it was, plain as day: his right eye was gray and his left eye was brown. How did I not notice that? Why does it seem like I'm I always two steps behind in this place?

"Uh, well, ah, no, no they aren't. They, uh, never have been." He smiled slowly as I stared at him. "And, if we can get off the topic of my face, for just a moment, you were asking... sorry, I forgot." I shook my head.

"Like, why does everyone in this place seem to be gay?" He nodded.

"Right, right. Well, that's a simple question for me to answer: I dunno." I face-faulted. Well, _that_ was helpful. He shrugged. "I mean, me 'n Kyo've developed this theory, but it's not proven or anything. We think it's because we're all in the temples."

"'M not followin' you."

"Okay, see, most kids who are Confirmed with The Gift are sent to temples to train, right? We're sent off to the Temples at a young age to try and develop our abilities. Only catch is most Elemental mages tend to be male, for some reason, and so, we're usually around a buncha guys, all the time. And since we're not allowed to leave the grounds until we've been Validated by the... you're not following much of this, are you?"

No. No, I wasn't, really. He sighed. "Okay, basically, we think because we're isolated in the Temples, surrounded by hot guys and very, very few girls for most of our lives, by the time we've realized other girls exist, it's too late. Remember, this just our theory, it might be something completely different in acuality."

Okay, that made a _little_ more sense. But just a little. It reminded me of another question, though.

"Okay, so why is everyone so good-looking here? Is it the water, or something?" Raz laughed.

"Now that actually does have an answer founded in scholarly truth." Ah, good ol' scholarly truth. "Ran tre Kaeido was originally a demon city, run and inhabited by demons and spirits. And, as you can see, they tend to be incredibly attractive, don't they?" I thought of Yoriko's lazy grin, Aedeka's sinful body, Loeke's hair, Dakora's eyes, Veda's voice….

Yes. Yes, demons absolutely tended to be attractive.

Raz seemed to take my reflective silence as agreement, smirking, and continued. "Well, after awhile, humans started settling here as well. Demons started taking humans as mates, and vice versa, and, well, you can figure out the rest." I furrowed my brow.

"So, you're saying that all the humans in this place are descended from demons?" He nodded.

"Yeah, that's right. Just enough blood to keep us nice and pretty." He struck a pose and batted his lashes at me. Idiot. "And enough to provide some of us with a link to the spirits. Where did you think the magic came from?"

Hell if I knew, mage-boy.

I had just opened my mouth to say something when the young boy I saw earlier popped out of nowhere and bowed very low.

"Excuse me, sirs," he piped. Raz turned to him.

"Are they ready?" The boy nodded, bowed again, then turned and left. Hm. Abrupt, wasn't he?

"Who's that?" I asked. Raz shrugged.

"He's a page, one of three, they're the ones who run all the errands and stuff. The Elders are ready for you guys." Oh, so it was time to pick up the boys then. Razyo and I gathered up all my new clothes (I kept on that thrice-damned skirt) and Dakora's... snacks, and headed over to the door of the shop, where the others had already started congregating.

As we said our thanks to the tiny old shopkeeper and the hairdresser, I suddenly got an incredibly bad feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck were too long to stand up, but they prickled all the same. I mentally shook myself and ignored it, and headed off to the Shrine with the others.

Why do I ignore such blatant warnings? It's usually detrimental to my health.

* * *

"Ah, there you are," Urai greeted us as we entered the inner sanctum (I made that up, it was just a room) of the Shrine of Riei ki Sarys. We'd given Raz and the others our things, as they had stayed in the previous room, wishing us luck. 

And _why,_ exactly, would we be needing luck?

Urai and four other really old dudes were seated on the floor, around a platform upon which our five orbs rested.

Almost immediately, I sensed that there was something different about them, but I couldn't put my finger on just what it was. I figured I'd find out soon enough, though, as Urai indicated for us to sit down. "Gentlemen, these are the Elders of your respective Temples." She rattled off four strange, archaic-sounding names as she introduced them to us. "Now, we will proceed onto the Rebirth." I squirmed in my spot next to Quatre. Why was everything here some big, fancy, drawn-out process? Drawing, Confirmation, Endowment, Validation, Rebirth, I mean, jeez! "Now, I will warn you," she began with a significant look to each of us. (I _knew_ it! I should have listened to the hairs on the back of my neck!) "Your amplifiers will most likely have changed. You will have to reassert your authority over them and-"

"Oh, hell, no!" I started. Wufei was glaring at the old woman, his face a twisted combination of fury and terror. Damn, Veda must've really done a number on the poor guy. Then again, I had no desire whatsoever for a repeat performance of Yoriko's retaliation tactics, either. Urai held up a hand.

"Calm yourself, dear Wufei, it will not be like the Drawing." The Chinese boy practically collapsed in relief. She pointed to the orbs. "You simply have to… remind them of your ownership, as they tend to lose themselves after regaining their powers. Duo." She turned to me and I gulped. "I have no idea how Yoriko will respond, and it is for this reason that I ask you to please go first."

The hairs were laughing at me. I could feel it.

I stood up and walked over to her, and with a shaky hand, reached out and picked up the small green and black orb. Urai took a deep breath and muttered something in that crazy archaic language, sweeping both hands over the ball.

I felt the difference at once, and I didn't like it. At all. A powerful current of energy suddenly pulsed from the orb into my body; it was like being electrocuted without the pain.

My hair was too scared to laugh, now.

I was honestly terrified, and looked imploringly to Urai. She smiled a tiny (incredibly unconvincing) smile and took my other hand in both of hers. "Repeat after me: _innaei_ _susiita losao Yoriko aa madi_." I stared at her.

Huaaah?

She repeated it, her smile more sincere now. It took me a few tries, but I got it, eventually. Go, me. Urai gestured to my orb. "Good. This is the incantation you will use to summon him, Duo." She nodded to me and took her seat back in the circle of the Elders.

I stood alone in the center of the room, praying silently that I survived this, please, _please_, let me survive this, I'm not ready to die yet, Heero's waiting to talk to me, and I just figured this place out, oh, please don't let anything happen to me, please, ah, God, _please_ don't-

"Duo?" Fine, fine, fine! Damn, a guy can't even _pray_ in peace anymore!

I steeled myself, took a deep breath, and recited the… incantation spell-thing. Even through my tightly closed eyelids, I could see the bright flash of green light that accompanied the end of the chant. It faded, and I heard gasps, along with Quatre's tiny "Oh!" and I shook as I waited for my life to end.

…Or something.

I was completely caught off-guard, though, when a pair of lean-muscled arms wrapped around me from the back in a sudden, crushing bear hug. "Did you miss me, Master?" an all too-familiar voice purred into my ear.

I struggled in Yoriko's suffocating embrace, not entirely convinced he wasn't really trying to kill me, and he laughed as he released his hold. I whirled around to face him, and was shocked by the sight that greeted me.

Deep breaths, Duo, deep breaths.

It was Yoriko, alright, back and better than ever. His pine green eyes twinkled and he smiled a slow, glittering smile. Somehow, (please, don't ask me how, I have no idea, and he won't tell me) he'd changed clothes; the demon was now clad in all leather. Sinfully tight black leather that showed off every inch of his perfectly toned body. I noticed, in the back of my mind that his wings and tail were suspiciously absent. So I _wasn't_ crazy for not noticing them earlier! He could… hide them. I guess. (I'd have to remember to ask him about that later.) There was new addition to Yori's body: a small black design under his left eye. It didn't detract from anything, of course. In fact, if anything, it only served to enhance his dark beauty.

Yeah, deep breaths and shallow thoughts.

Relieved that I was no longer in danger of being gruesomely mauled, I walked over and plopped back down near Quatre, who grinned and congratulated me. Yeah, whoohoo, Quat. I waved Yoriko over to me, and, having fully been expecting him to rebel in some way, was amazed when he obediently strolled over, and sat on my right. I stared at him suspiciously. _What the hell's gotten into you? Why're you so compliant, all of a sudden?_ I asked (with my cool new telepathic ability) as the Elder of the Temple of Air summoned Heero to get his orb. Yoriko grinned enigmatically.

_Oh, no reason, just glad I finally have my powers back. I felt naked without 'em._ He sighed luxuriously and stretched his arms over his head. I snorted.

_And here I would have thought you liked being naked._ He laughed out loud at that, and I turned my attention to Heero, who's orb had just flashed lilac. I was just thinking what a girly color lilac was, when Aedeka appeared before his master, decked out in a loose blue tunic with an incredibly steep V-neck (hell, it should have been called a V-chest!), with short gray pants and a silver sash. Like his little brother, he was also sporting a sexy new facial tattoo; a dark blue one.

Well, that certainly disproved the lilac theory, didn't it?

Heero and Aedeka headed back over to sit down near Wufei and Trowa, on the opposite side of the table from Q and me. The blonde's name was called and he stood up, casting a glace back at me. I gave him a thumbs up, and he smiled.

I sensed rather than felt Yoriko brighten even more beside me as Quatre retrieved his orb. Leveling another doubtful stare at him, I cleared my throat. "Uh, in case you've forgotten, buddy, Loeke wants your balls pickled in a jar. Why are you getting so excited?" I heard Quat mutter the incantation, and the room glowed with pure, silver-white light.

The creature that appeared before Quatre was anything but pure-looking, though: like Yoriko, Loeke was dressed to kill in obscenely tight clothes. His pale blue pants and too-short navy vest clung to his lithe body like a second skin.

What the fuck, did they all take a trip to "Sluts 'R Us" while we were gone?

The fair-haired demon's clothes were having a rather predictable effect on Yoriko. "Ke-ko," he whispered huskily. I had every intention of warning him against going near the smaller boy, but before I could, Loeke turned, eyes wide. He looked… starstruck, for lack of a better word.

_The hell?_

"Yoriko," he said breathlessly, the beginnings of a grin forming on his face. I think there was something different about the smaller demon, other than the small blue tat at the corner of his right eye, but... ah, it was his eyes. is pupils were slitted, like a reptile's Again, I marvelled at how, somehow, it didn't look odd at all, to see a young boy with slitted pupils.

Trowa had taken his orb, and now held the swirling aurulent bauble in his right hand, prepared to call out Dakora. He muttered the incantation and, as expected, there was a brilliant flash of… _black_?

What the-

"Fuck," Yoriko moaned. Quatre and I turned sharply to the two amplifiers at our sides, as the Elders at the table began talking in low, hurried voices. Aedeka darted over to Trowa's side, with Heero, and Wufei hot on his heels.

"Loeke, what's going-" was all Quat had time to ask the wild-eyed Loeke before Dakora appeared, on floor in front of his Master. Dead silence reigned in the small room, all eyes trained on the figure huddled before Trowa.

"Um, hey, Dakora? Are you alright?" the tall boy asked tentatively. The figure on the ground said nothing. Tro cleared his throat nervously, and had just opened his mouth again when Aedeka put a hand on his chest.

"Back up," he said, voice completely flat. "Back up, slowly, all of you. Now." He waited for the three boys to comply, then followed his own instructions and began to back away from the prone figure on the ground. They had nearly reached Quat and me when honey-gold eyes suddenly snapped open and locked onto Trowa's.

Dakora stood up slowly and I immediately noticed more than a few physical changes. The most notable was that he was… bigger. He was by no means large, but he'd grown, somehow; his chest was a little broader and he was taller than before. His hair had grown a bit, and his slowly swishing tail was longer, the fur thicker. Damn, it was like he'd hit puberty while we were gone!

Dakora also had a tattoo on his face, but his was a large black slash across his left eye. While I was cataloguing all the changes that had taken place, a slow, somewhat sinister grin had spread across the still relatively boyish face. "Master," came the dark, harsh whisper.

What the hell? What happened to the cute, happy, raspy-voiced fox-boy from two hours ago?

Trowa stood stick-still, and looked incredibly ill, face pale, eyes huge, mouth slightly agape. Wufei had rushed over to his Temple Elder to try and summon Veda, but in his panic, he was having trouble remembering the words of the incantation. Heero was staring much like Trowa was, at the recently "Reborn" fox.

Oh, he was so pretty when he was focused intently on something. So very, very pretty.

"D…Dakora?" Trowa whispered uncertainly. The fox's grin widened and he began walking slowly towards his Master, tail swinging lazily from side to side. He did one of those funny little shakes of the head that dogs tend to do… and then suddenly it was uncomfortably hot in the room. God, I was sweating already!

"Loeke, what's going on, what's wrong with Dakora?" Quatre asked, seemingly unaffected by the fact that the room had suddenly decided to imitate Hell (while I, on the other hand, was desperately wishing I'd brought a fan and a bucket of ice). Loeke made a face and looked to his green-eyed lover.

"It's his curse," the ice demon answered. "His other personality." Quatre made an exasperated sound.

"Well, how the hell do we stop him?" he demanded, turning back to watch the spectacle before him. I glanced over at Yoriko, who looked a little grim. He shook his head.

"Nothing. There's nothing you can do but wait until he changes back."

"Well how the hell long would that take?" I asked the two demons, stamping my foot impatiently. Q and I watched in apprehension as Yoriko shrugged.

"Depends. Could last anywhere from an hour to a week, a month, a year, it just depends. There's no way to gauge it." Yeah, but still….

"But what if, I mean, what if he hurts Trowa?" Loeke shook his head.

"No. He can't kill your friend, a demon can't kill his own Master, it's impossible." I noticed something right there.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you said 'kill', he can't kill Trowa. I said 'hurt', he could hurt him?" Yoriko smirked wryly.

"So you caught that, huh?" He turned back to demon and Master. Dakora was only a few feet away from my banged friend, grinning insanely. I saw Heero trying desperately to calm Wufei down, as the Chinese boy was swearing in rapid Mandarin, still panicking to remember the words of the spell. A bit behind them, Aedeka was looking onto the scene with grim intensity, eyes dark and unreadable, and the five Elders were sitting in a circle, murmuring some weird chant-thing.

Yoriko continued, absently wrapping an arm around his small lover, pulling him close. "Yeah, if he were weak, Dako could really hurt the kid. But something tells me your Trowa's a bit more formidable than that. Plus, I think 'Kora likes him, I wouldn't worry too much if I were you." Well, you're not me, so you wouldn't be as worried about him as I would, would you, demon-boy?

"Master," Dakora purred again, sidling up to the tall boy. Trowa looked incredibly uncomfortable with eyes darting from side to side like they were, but he didn't necessarily look scared. He had been standing his ground throughout the entire ordeal, despite the fact that the fire demon was blatantly invading his personal space. Maybe Yoriko was right, maybe I didn't need to worry-

**_FWOOSH! _**

Without warning, a ring of fire shot up from the ground, encircling both Trowa Dakora, effectively shielding them from our sight. The heat alone was enough to send us all scattering to the furthest corner of the room. Oh, damn, if the room was hot before….

From my place on my back, I scowled furiously at Yoriko. "Don't worry my motherfuckin' ass!" I screamed at him. He simply gaped incredulously at the towering wall of fire before us. He'd mouthed something to Loeke, something that looked like "_Already?"_ to which the smaller demon replied with a dazed shrug. Okay, whatever.

"Dakora, no, stop it!" I turned. I'd imagine the only reason Aedeka hadn't thrown himself into the flame yet was because of Heero's hold on his shirt. Heero, while obviously terrified for our friend, had obviously rationalized that, while it may make him feel better for a moment, Aedeka's diving into a blazing column of fire would probably not help anyone in the long run. Sometime while I was busy being distracted, Wufei had managed to calm down enough to actually say the incantation, and Veda stood rigid at his side, staring like the rest of us, at the monstrous, swirling wall of fire. (And just to let you know, yes, Veda did also look like he just came from a club: he was wearing a tight cream-colored top with even tighter gold-hued pants. Just to let you know.)

"Come on, baby, stop it, don't do this right now, please 'Kora!" Aedeka pleaded, but to no avail. The scorching barricade was an unrelenting monolith in the center of the room, utterly and completely isolating those on the outside from the two within.

Jeez, I get poetic when I'm scared, don't I?

I rolled over towards Q, Loeke, and Yoriko, and realized, with a start, that it felt much less like the center of Hell over here. I frowned for a second, casting a glance at them huddled around the pale-eyed ice demon, and realization struck me.

Duh, Duo.

"Hey, wait, Quat, you're a water mage, or whatever, can't you put that out?" He gave me a look that suggested he'd have an easier chance of forcing Wufei to go streaking. (You know, I tried that, once. I've still got the scar, too.)

"Duo, how can I do that? I don't even really know what my powers are, let alone how to actually _use_ them!" Well, jeez, don't get your panties in a bunch. Beside him, Loeke was shaking his head.

"Even if you did have control over your powers, Master, you wouldn't be able to put that out, you couldn't. Besides, you wouldn't want to, you'd risk hurting your lover." Quatre flushed visibly at that last word, and I frowned again.

"What? Why?" Yoriko shrugged.

"He's Bonding with him now." There's another one! What is _with_ this place and their gratuitous use of capitalization? "Usually, the process doesn't happen until well after the relationship between Master and amplifier has been established, when they trust each other more. I guess your Trowa really is something else, then, Master."

Goddamit, why was everything so fucking complicated around here? I don't fucking get it!

"I don't understand, what is Bonding?" Quatre asked, mirroring my thoughts. Aedeka appeared out of nowhere, looking a bit frustrated.

"It's the process by which Master and amplifier become one, in body, mind, and ability." Before Quatre could voice his incredibly obvious distress, Aedeka laughed and held up a hand. "Not to worry, it's not permanent. Well, the sharing of the body isn't. But, as of right now, and from now on, your Trowa will have full control over the same skills as Dakora. They will be mentally and spiritually attuned, as I said before, one." Quatre opened his mouth again, and again, Aedeka smiled and stopped him. "And, no, he will still be the same person you knew -and loved-" he added, with a saucy wink to the blond "-before this. In fact, when they aren't Merged-" fucking dammit, there was _another_ one! "-there will be no noticeable difference, physical or mental." Q sighed in relief, but I was (friggin' _still_!) confused.

"Will we all do this 'Bonding' thing?" I asked, as Wu, Heero, and Veda approached us. Aedeka nodded.

"Yes, it's necessary for you to complete this. It's really the whole reason you Drew an amplifier; we can only do so much to increase your power before the Bond, but after… well, let's just say you'll be greatly envied. Remember, not everyone manages to Draw an amplifier." Yoriko grinned broadly.

"Yeah, _especially_ not _us_," he gloated, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I snorted. Egotist. Wufei furrowed his brow and addressed the silver-haired demon questioningly.

"If the Bonding process is essential, why were you so against Dakora doing it? If he had to anyway, what was the point of putting it off until later?" Veda growled from behind his Master.

"Because Dakora is a loose cannon! His powers are erratic and unpredictable, there's no way anyone-" Aedeka cut him off with a vicious snarl. The tall blue haired demon lifted his chin defiantly, but said nothing more. Aedeka turned patiently back to Wufei.

"I was _worried_," he started with a, acidic glare at Veda, "because your friend doesn't have control over his own abilities yet. Yes, Dakora's powers are a bit… precarious at times, but they are also very intense. He's going to have to work five times as hard as you all, just at harnessing the energy, not to mention actually controlling and using it." Wufei nodded, accepting the explanations. Damn, I was sure glad Yoriko had decided to wait to Bond until after I mastered my powers, then.

I can a terrible slacker, at times.

But, then again…. "Hey, wait, Yoriko, if I've gotta master handling my powers as a green mage, or whatever, when the hell am I gonna learn how to deal with all _your_ crazy 'Dark' shit?" He looked over at me, then chuckled.

"Hm, looks like you'll have work _ten_ times as hard then, little slacker."

Oh, _hell_.

I was so caught up in the fact that I was actually going to have to _work hard_ at being a mage, that I didn't hear Urai calling my name until she was right in front of me. "Duo!"

"Gah!" I cried, flinging myself away from the grizzled woman. I became aware of my surroundings again, noticing that there seemed to be some sort of dissention in the ranks. Quat looked about ready to go into Zero mode, and Wuffie and 'Ro were scowling. The Elders were watching them, looking a wary and a little nervous (hell, who wouldn't be, with three angry ex-Gundam pilots glaring daggers at them?). Urai had been staring at me, then shook her head pityingly. "Duo," she began again, as though she were speaking to someone of limited intelligence. Which I am NOT. "I said that I would like you and the others to go into the courtyard and pick out your weapons now." Oh, well that didn't seem so bad, now, what was the problem?

"You can't expect us to just _leave_ Trowa here!" Quatre bellowed. Oh, yeah! I looked back to the center of the room, where the firewall was still going strong, swirling around the two figures we knew to be in there. "We can't leave him!" I nodded, switching my focus back to Urai.

"Yeah, Urai, I'm with the guys on this, we're not leaving him alone here." Urai made an agonized sound.

"He's not alone, and he's not in any danger. Trowa will Bond with his amplifier, regardless of whether you all are here to watch him or not. They should be finished shortly, and I would prefer not to waste any more time in here. I will inform one of the pages to escort Mr. Barton to the courtyard when the Bonding process is complete, and after you have all chosen your weapons, you can make your way to the Gardens for the Ceremony." I was still glaring at her. She sighed. "Please, all of you, trust me, ask your amplifiers, nothing is going to happen, both of them will be fine, you have nothing to worry about. Please, follow us and you can choose your instruments." She started towards a door in the back of the room. I looked back at Yoriko, and when he shrugged and nodded, I sighed.

Fine, we'd leave Tro here for now, but if he wasn't in the courtyard in ten minutes, some heads were gonna roll, dammit.

The others seemed to have taken the same view on the matter, and one by one, we began to follow her. Instinctively, I waited up for Quatre, watching as the others all walked past me. I put a comforting hand on the little blonde's shoulder as we headed out, as he looked about ready to fall apart. Q looked up at me with worried eyes. "I don't want to leave him, Duo, I don't. How would any of us feel if it was us in there, and we came out and everyone was gone? He was scared, Duo, so scared, and now he's sad, and nobody's going to be here when he gets out of there except some page he doesn't even know. It's not fair!" I nodded.

"Yeah, man, I know you're worried, I am, too. Could you feel anything negative from Dakora? Did he seem like he wanted to hurt Tro?" Quat sighed and shook his head.

"N-no. Well, not the whole time. Actually, for a minute, he seemed a little scared, too, of Trowa. I mean, I know this Bonding thing is supposed to happen, and I guess I'm being silly, but he was so _sad_ Duo! You… you have no idea what it feels like to know someone needs you to be there for them, to feel what they're feeling, and then walk away from that. He _wanted_ us to be there, Duo. I just…."He shook his head, at a loss for words, and I pulled him into a tight hug.

"I know, buddy, I know." He wasn't crying or anything, but the slow, shuddering breaths he was taking told me that this was just as serious. My poor baby! God knew it had to be hard enough, dealing with the whole constant psychic empathy ordeal, and he usually dealt well, but since it was the love of his life we were talking about... well, no wonder he was so upset.

We stayed like that for a moment, comforting each other, really, until he sighed. Pulling away, he smiled up at me. "Thanks, Duo." I shook my head and gestured for him to go ahead of me.

"Ah, t'was nothing at all, my fair, fair lady," I intoned in my best British gentleman's accent, hoping to cheer him up a bit (there was this one time when, after we'd spent the entire afternoon felling sorry for ourselves, that we'd come up with this theory how we'd both make terrific drag queens because… ah, never mind, it's an inside joke, and a complicated one at that.).

My quip had the desired effect, as Q giggled quietly. "Bastard," he said breathed softly, walking ahead of me anyways, smiling. We'd gotten a little behind the others, but knew which hallway to turn down when we caught sight of a lock of long white hair disappearing down a corridor. We turned the corner and reached a tall black door that led to outside, presumably to the courtyard. I, again, indicated that Q go before me, and he playfully swatted my ass. I made a suggestive face at him and he snorted, swinging the door open wide. I walked out into the courtyard behind him, but stopped dead in my tracks as I did.

Here I was, thinking that the courtyard was going to be similar to the Garden, you know, lush and inviting and peaceful. No. The only similarities between the Garden and this place was that there was grass and that both were outdoors. The end.

Despite the fact that it was broad daylight outside, the courtyard was dark, probably due to the fact that it was surrounded by tall, thick black walls. And on those walls, mounted on shelves, were more weapons that I ever knew existed in the world. Holy fuck, this place was an assassin's paradise!

There were a total of four walls surrounding the courtyard; one housed an assortment of throwing weapons, another wall contained pole-mounted weapons and whips (kinky…), while another held a collection of swords and longknives, and on the last was a variety of gloves and gauntlets. (Not really sure what place those had in the weapons' room, but hey, whatever.)

Quatre wandered over to touch one of the vicious-looking pikes on the wall before us, and my mouth had to have been watering, because Yoriko appeared at my side, chuckling. "You like?" he asked with a flourish of his clawed hand. I was only able to nod dumbly, still trying to take in the sheer vastness of the amount of weaponry in front of me. He made a purring sound. "Hn, should we get started then, Master?" I tore my eyes away from a particularly menacing-looking metal segmented whip and looked questioningly to him. He pointed to the Elders seated on a stone bench in the center of the field. "They said we're supposed to pick a weapon, weren't you listening?" Oh, I guess not. I re-processed what he said.

"Wait, wait, wait, what do you mean 'we' pick a weapon? You get one, too?" Yoriko rolled his eyes.

"We pick a weapon together, you idiot. I'll be inside you when you're fighting, so really, it's your choice."

"Inside me?" He nodded, grinning. "Wait, like the possession thing, is that what you're talking about?" He nodded again. "But I don't _want_ you inside me!" He snorted.

"Well, that's the first time I've ever heard _that_-" fucking pervert "-but, again, you've no choice in the matter, Master. Weren't you listening earlier? How else do you expect me to do my job if we're not spiritually in tune with each other?" _Yes_ I was listening! But Aedeka said….

"I thought we wouldn't Bond 'till later, isn't that what your brother said?" The black-haired demon nodded, and began eyeing the whips himself.

"Yes, but that's different. Bonding is one thing; we'll be mentally, physically, and spiritually Bound together, Merged. Possession is different, I'll just be helping you out, really." He cut me off before I could say anything. "Yes, Master, you will need my help. Trust me, you'll see, you'll like it." And, with that, he walked off, leaving me alone to my thoughts of demons and possession.

Of course, with all these beautiful instruments of death at my fingertips, I wasn't thinking those thoughts very long.

I decided right off the bat that I didn't want a whip, it didn't seem like it really had a place on the battlefield. And the gauntlets didn't really make any sense to me, so, despite the fact that _Heero _and Aedeka were stopped in front it, I skipped that wall, too. I paused in front of an enormous black scythe, mounted on the wall with the swords.

Oooh, yeah, baby.

I picked it up, smiling, remembering the good ol' days, lovingly petting the long, wicked blade. But then, put it back down. For some reason, it just didn't feel… right. I gave it one last stroke before I strolled over to the side of the wall that housed the swords and longknives. I was impressed by the selection, and the weapons themselves were exquisite, but there was just something that wasn't there. I moseyed over to the throwing blades and found the same problem: fond memories, good feel, perfectly stunning craftsmanship, but no spark.

I was just beginning to feel a little disappointed (daggers, daggers, everywhere, but not a blade to use!) and depressed, and had just turned to go ask Urai if, maybe there was another "courtyard" somewhere, when I was (nearly gored by) greeted with the most magnificently beautiful weapon I'd ever seen in my entire life.

On a scale from one to ten, it was a Heero.

I don't really know how to describe it, it was so unique. There were two of them, for starters, I'm guessing one for each hand. The silver hilt was actually in between the two wickedly long, cruelly curved black blades that made up the weapon. I marvelled at the thought behind the weapon: there were two, so I was protected on both my right and left side, it was dual-ended, and the blades themselves actually arced up and over the hilt before they shot out two feet in each direction, in that way, protecting my hands. I reached out, ran a finger along the sides of one perfect, ebony blade and realized that it was also double-edged. Oh, life was good!

Yoriko laughed as he handed one of the evil-looking weapons to me, twirling the other idly in his hand. "I absolutely agree, Master, I absolutely agree." I took hold of the center of the weapon, giving it a few test-swings, loving the way it felt utterly perfect in my hands. I stopped and examined it, wondering how I could have overlooked such a flawlessly beautiful weapon. I must have said this out loud (either that, or Yori had been peering into my thoughts again) because he handed me the other blade, laughing again.

"I saw it as soon as I walked in and picked it up. I had it when I came over to talk to you, actually. Knew you'd like it." I glared at him. Here I'd wasted a good thirty minutes looking for the perfect weapon, this _particular_ weapon, and this bastard had it this entire time?

"I hate you," I growled, heading over to where the others had just begun congregating around Urai and the others. He chuckled merrily and followed me at a distance, knowing I was mad at him. He barked out a laugh.

"Actually, it's because you have no idea how to carry those things yet, and if I come within three feet of you, front or back, I'll be perforated." I mock-menacingly jabbed the right-hand weapon in his direction before coming to a stop in front of our little group. Urai looked around at us appraisingly, then nodded.

"Good," she said simply, then turned to face Wufei, who was holding two long, narrow-bladed swords with ornate silver hilts. Hm, typical Wu, going for the sword right off the bat.

His Temple Elder stepped forward as well, to stand next to Urai. "Wufei, the weapon you have chosen is the _A'Rafinae_, The Last Reflection. Please come over here." 'Fei looked confused, but did as he was told, walking over to the old man. The Elder closed his eyes and muttered something foreign, waving one hand over the Chinese boy, then touched his forehead.

Okay, then. Whatever that means.

"Quatre," Urai called. The blond stepped forward with some big-ass pike thing in his left hand. The body of the weapon seemed to be made of opal, and it looked a little bit like a trident, but just a little, as it was also double-ended and meant to be held in the middle. Also, instead of pointy spires at the crown, there were long, inward-curving silver blades, and in the center was a long, thick needle. Okay… strange. Pretty, and certainly intimidating, but strange nonetheless. His Elder came forward and repeated the same process as Wufei's did, claiming Q's weapon to be called _Korisal_, or Poison. Sweet name.

"Duo," Urai called, turning towards me. I followed the trend and walked towards her, blades close at my side so as not to "_perforate_" anyone. She nodded knowingly. "I should have known Yoriko would find these or you, Duo. _Tahalei_, the Demon Blades. His weapon of choice." I scowled at the "what-who-me?" expression of the green-eyed demon's face. He knew I would like them, huh? I mean, even though I did, he had no right taking advantage of me like that.

_I did not take advantage of you! I told you'd like them and you did, how is that taking advantage of you?_ he queried as Urai began muttering. _You're just mad 'cause I know you better than you want me to._ I narrowed my eyes.

_You probably pulled some crazy Dark-magic Jedi mind-trick on me, then._ He made a show of rolling his eyes.

_Oh, please, just because I knew you'd like them doesn't mean I forced you to. …Even though I could have…._ He let this statement hang cryptically in the air, and ignored me when I demanded he explain himself.

You know, for all his bragging about his "amazing" powers, he sure as hell avoided answering me every time I asked to know exactly what they were.

Heero was called next, and as he stepped forward, I realized he didn't seem to have a weapon. I frowned, but both Urai and the Elder of the Temple of Air smiled knowingly. "I take it your amplifier explained to you what this weapon actually is, Heero?" The blue-eyed boy nodded and held out his hands. Oh, so he did have a weapon. Gleaming in the sunlight were two gunmetal black gauntlet-gloves, segmented, and ending in malevolent points made to look like claws. …Cool, but I didn't see the purpose of them, really. I tried asking Yoriko, but he was apparently too busy chatting with his lover to pay any attention to the guy who literally owned his ass.

_You don't own me!_ Oh, so you have time to answer that?

I tuned back in, just in time to hear that Heero's gauntlets were named _Thaeath_, or Hunter's Shadow. Uhh, it was a neat name, but….

"Hey, 'Ro," I asked as he came back into the circle and stood next to me. (It's a sign, I know it is!) "What can those things actually do, man? I mean, yeah, I guess your hands are safe, but…." He smiled. (Oooooh, another sign, another sign! That _smile,_ it's _got_ to be another sign!)

_Not that his asking to talk to you later tonight is a sign, or anything._

Damn it, shuddup, Yori!

"Aedeka had to explain them to me, but it's weird, even before he did, I knew I wanted them. But, he said that since I was an alchemist, I had the power to create both energy and matter. These'll allow me to convert energy into matter." Yep, he lost me. He sighed, smiling. "I'm sure it's a lot easier to explain when you can show a movie of what you're talking about in the person's head." I'm sure. He sighed again, and ran a hand through his hair, and for a reason I can't explain, the black metal glove on his hand made it sexy…er. (Who am I kidding, he's always sexy!) "Okay, like, if I wanted to, I'd be able to make a sword out of pure energy, using these things," he said, indicating the gauntlets. I nodded. I kinda got it, a little bit…. "Apparently, I can make whatever I want, using the magic around me. I'll admit, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense whe I expalin it, but I…." He trailed off, focused on something over my shoulder.

I knew it would be Trowa before I even turned around, and Quatre's happy exclamation, and his sudden dash across the courtyard confirmed it. We all followed the blonde's lead and started over to Tro, but at a slightly slower pace.

I was ready for the sight of T and Dakora (well, the blurry figure of Dakora racing to Aedeka), but I wasn't ready for the overall aura of _power_ that radiated from him. I was also expecting for him to look different, but I guess Aedeka was right; other than the fact that I felt like I'd be reduced to nothing but smoldering embers if he so much as sneezed on me, he was the same. He was smiling, had every reason to, as Quat pounced on him, wrapping his arms tightly around the taller boy's neck.

I could tell T wanted to kiss him, just from the way he looked down at the pale gold head under his chin. I laughed to myself for a moment….

Until they actually did kiss. I stopped, then.

I was sudden, unexpected (hey, I knew he _wanted_ to, but I had no idea he actually _would_!) and brief, but a kiss all the same. Quatre's eyes widened in shock, and didn't get a chance to close before Trowa released him. Our usually-banged friend was blushing slightly as he glanced shyly over at the Arabian boy he'd just (made the happiest man alive at the moment) smooched. Quatre offered him a tiny smile of his own, and colored prettily. Aaawwwww…

I was about to die of saccharine overdose.

Trowa grinned almost apologetically at the rest of us, nodded once to let us know he was okay (I guess that's what the nod meant, I was out of practice at speaking 'Silent Clown') and strode over to the wall that held the swords, grabbed two, seemingly at random, and came back. His Elder, unfazed at the boy's swiftness, smiled. Trowa was holding two wickedly curved swords the Elder of Fire was quick to pronounce as _Maievar_, Death's Song. Man, I wish my weapon was called Death's Song.

_Shut up, you twit._ Stay the fuck outta my head, Yoriko!

Behind us, Urai clapped her hands to get our attention, and after giving us the scabbards/sheaths/whatevers to hold our weapons in (mine was a cool-looking backback/harness thing), she stepped back. "As of this moment, the five of you are officially Elemental mages of the Temples of Ran tre Kaeido, and your welcoming Ceremony will commence at dusk. I will now ask you as to the nature of your tutelage here: you came here and were Confirmed as a group, and as such you have the option of group training. In this, you would live, study, and practice together, and y-"

"Yes!" was the answer that came out of five mouths all at once. Urai and the Ellders smiled kindly.

"I thought as much," she said. At the same time, she rang the small gong that (I hadn't noticed) she had been holding in her hand. Immediately, a young girl with long gold hair strode out into the courtyard. She walked over and faced us, eyes cast shyly downwards. Urai put a hand on her shoulder. "This is Naari, one of the three maidens of the Temple, and as such, she will be a guide and your housemaid. She will escort you to the Gardens, and the celebration will begin. When you arrive, you will sit next to the Head of your Temple until the formalities are over. After that, you are free to move about and sit near whomever you like." She said this last part with a meaningful glance in Trowa's and Quat's directions. Then she nodded. "I will see you all soon." Then, she and the Elders were gone.

So that left the ten of us standing around the young maiden, or whatever she was. She looked up at us, smiled tentatively and whispered a quiet "Please follow me, sirs." She walked towards the door, and we did as she asked.

Before everyone else had the chance to barrage him with questions, I yanked Trowa off to the side, away from the rest of the group, as I had a few of my own.

I'm so selfish.

He looked at me, waiting patiently for me to ask. So I did. "Okay, first of all, what was with the kiss, where'd that come from, huh?" He ducked his head a little, but still met my eyes.

"I don't really know, Duo, I just… did. I think a part of it may have been this whole 'Merging' thing, Dakora's pretty impulsive, I guess, but I really don't know. I just felt like the right time, you know?" I nodded, even though I didn't. Not yet, but hopefully that would change by the end of the night.

"Alright, question number two: why were you sad? Q said he could feel it." He looked up, startled, clearly not expecting that one. Then, he looked back down.

"I… Dakora, I mean, he just asked me… he made me promise…."

"What did he ask you? What'd he make you promise, Tro?" I pressed. I'm a nosy bastard, aren't I?

Trowa sighed and met my gaze with his own once again. "He asked me… he asked me not to hurt him. Asked me to promise not to hurt him." I frowned. What? "He told me about… about his last Master, and…." He sighed again. "I can't tell you right now, maybe later, or I'll let him do it. He's been hurt really badly in the past, and I guess it just… depressed me that someone would… that someone would hurt him like that." I could tell he was upset just thinking about it (hell, _I_ was a little upset!), and it only served to make me more curious. Who had hurt the little fire-demon, and just what did they do? That brought up another point.

"Is he… better? Er, I mean, is he still creepy Dakora?" Trowa smiled a little.

"Uh, yeah he is, but he's not really so bad, you'll see. He actually reminds me of a really bad-ass, irritable, more standoffish version of you." Hey, hey, wait a minute, I'm a bad-ass! My banged friend laughed when I said it out loud. "Not like him, you're not, trust me." He sobered a little. "I don't think you'd want to be." I would have probably said something to try and cheer him up, had Quatre not walked over and done the job for me.

"Hey, you guys coming?" he asked quietly, not really daring to meet T's eyes. Trowa smiled warmly at him (awww!), clapped a friendly hand on my shoulder, and went to talk to Wufei and Heero… who were both leering at him. I took a quick look at my blond friend and knew immediately what they'd be talking about.

Ah, men.

Behind us, Dakora and Aedeka were talking, Yoriko and Loeke were kissing, and Veda was scowling. All was more-or-less right with the world.

"So, how'd it feel, Q? Was it all you thought it'd be?" I asked him with a sly grin. He blushed for the fiftieth time and made a shooing motion at me, putting the _Korisal_ in the sheath on his back.

"Shut up, Maxwell, you're just jealous," he said airily, trying to hide the grin forming on his face. Damn fucking straight I was, but that wasn't the point. He laughed when I repeated the question, then sighed in ecstasy. "Oh, Duo, it was amazing! I wasn't expecting it at all, I mean, we hadn't even _talked_ about anything like that yet, but oh, it was so great!" I laughed.

"Well, I'm really glad you're happy now, Q, you deserve it." He smiled gratefully at me.

"Thank you, but so do you, and you will be. Who knows, maybe Heero will pull a Trowa tonight at the party." I moaned. Oh, how perfect would _that_ be?

Quatre laughed at my dramatic-ness, and we continued to follow the young Temple maiden, exiting the building and starting across the lawns, towards the Garden. Ahead of us, I watched as Wufei grinned and Heero punched a stuttering Trowa playfully on the shoulder, laughing jovially. Heero turned ever so slightly and caught side of me ogling him. He looked pointledly from Quatre to me, then smiled that heart-stopping smile of his.

_You're next,_ he mouthed to me. I nearly melted.

Oh, my God! Oh, man, life just doesn't _get_ any better than this!

...I found myself scanning the ground for fox-droppings the entire way back to the Garden.

TBC…

* * *

-_Collapses from exhaustion_- Holy crap, that was longer than I thought! ( don't really like this chapter, though. There's something about it...) Anyway, despite the fact that I already have some of Chapter 7 done, EE is going to have to take a little break (just a week or two, this time, I swear!) because college is unforgiving, and I've found myself writing on numerous occasions when I should be studying for a test, or doing a reading assignment, or my homework. So, as soon as I'm all caught up again, I'll resume writing and posting, but in the meantime, I'd really like to hear from all of you. No, this isn't another contest thing, but I do really want to know what you think of the story so far: are there too many characters, it there too much detail, regardless of whether it's too much or too little, or anything in between, please let me know. I really want to know whether I should keep writing this story or not, or if I should just scrap it and start on a new one. Please, be honest (but not overly harsh!) and let me know what you think, one way or another. Thank you guys, and I hope to hear from you! 


	7. After the Party is the Afterparty

Chapter 7

Warnings: AU-ish, yaoi, language, Duo's POV

This Chapter is rated **R** for language, crude humor, violence, smooching, and general lecherousness

Pairings: 2x1/1x2, 3x4, 5+S, Y/L, A/D; Y+2, Sukibera+2 (…you'll see…)

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing. Damn it.

A/N: **Finally!** Wow, guys, I truly am sorry this took so long, but here it is, Chapter 7. I won't waste your time with a boring, uninformative author's note that half of you might not read, but I do want to thank you all for sticking with this story, you're the best!

"Speech."

_Thoughts._

_Telepathy._

**Chapter 7: After the Party is the After-Party**

**:ooooo:**

"-ang Wufei. And so, without further hesitation, let the Celebration begin!" I sighed in relief as a raucous cheer went up from the crowd gathered around us.

It was about fucking time!

The Elders had been talking for an eternity (ok, so apparently, according to Raz, it'd only been about thirty minutes, but still!), rambling on and on about who we were, where we came from, what Gift we had, and who our amplifiers were (oh, God, you should have SEEN some of the peoples' faces for _that, _hahaha!), all that good stuff.

I'd sat there the entire time, sandwiched between Razyo and Yori, bored out of my mind, wondering just when the hell the woman's speech would be over. I alternated between drooling over the food-laden tables and Heero, unsure of which I wanted a taste of first.

…Although, when you really take the time to think about it, there's no competition.

I was snapped out of my reverie by a hand on my shoulder. I looked up at Razyo, as he nodded to the tables. "You ready to eat, Duo?" I was on my feet before he finished the first word.

"Hell yeah, I'm ready to eat!" I exclaimed, quickly smoothing out my… _skirt_ (I'd stood up a little too quickly, if Yoriko's snickering was any indication). I turned to the still-laughing (bastard) demon. "You coming?" He shook his head, still grinning.

"Nah, 'm not hungry." I opened my mouth to say something (not sure what, exactly, I'd planned for it to be one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants moments), when Loeke sidled up to the black-haired demon's side and purred something in his ear. Yoriko's grin turned lascivious. "Apparently," he continued as he stood. "I've got… other plans." With a suggestive eyebrow-raise to Razyo and I, he and the smaller demon strolled across the lawn and out of sight.

"Wow," Raz said laughingly as I rolled my eyes and we headed off to grab plates. As I looked around myself, I was amazed as to how surreal this whole situation was. We were at a party, a garden party, not unlike any other I'd ever been to, with lots of food and drinks, and laughter and music and dancing, people gossiping and arguing (from the looks of it), old people, young people, the works. In the midst of all this apparent normalcy, it was easy to forget that we had just fallen into another world, easy to forget that all these people possessed magic powers, that they had no problem with the fact they were in the presence of demons, that some of them were demons themselves. That they-

"Ah, Duo?"

Fucking fuck!

I whirled around to face the owner of the questioning hand on my shoulder, ready to chew out whoever had just interrupted my thought process, and was caught off-guard by a pair of blue eyes.

Q (ha, bet you thought it was Heero, didn't you?) blinked rapidly. Taken aback by my vehemence, he backed up a little, smiling almost cautiously. "Calm down, Duo, I was just going to give you a plate, since you didn't have one and they're over on the other table." He held out his left hand, and handed one to me. I stuck my nose in the air and stomped airily past him. He chuckled, unfazed by my admittedly ridiculous reaction, and fell in line behind me. "You're such a freak, Duo," he teased. I didn't really hear him though, as I was too busy piling deliciously exotic-looking food onto my plate.

I was almost halfway through the huge table, my platter already full, when I felt a pair of eyes drilling into my back. I whipped around, hoping against hope that it was Heero, and found myself looking into a pair of pale grey eyes. I blinked a few times, wondering why those eyes seemed so familiar….

"Hn," I heard, as someone brushed past me, and snatched a roll out of my hand. I quirked an eyebrow at Heero, as he bit into the still-warm bread. "What?" I asked, ignoring Aedeka's laughter. Heero shook his head.

"Nothing, I just recognize that guy from the pool. He…" he looked a little uncertain for a moment, but continued. "He was watching you the whole time we were in there." I chuckled. Oh, yeah! There was no doubt in my mind now: he definitely wantedme!

I chanced a quick glance back at my mystery admirer, who was, consequently, still looking at me (hm, not bad looking…), then turned back to Heero, grinning. "Aww, you jealous, Hee-baby?" He simply smirked back at me, turned, and started walking away.

…Goddam beautiful sexy bastard.

I grabbed a few more things off the table and loaded them onto my plate, and grabbed a mug filled with wine (I'm assuming it was wine, judging by the fact that the little kids weren't drinking it, and older people were clearly under the influence of _something_). I started over to the table where the guys were, but got stopped half a million times by random people, who were apparently fascinated by me, my powers, and my demon. And my hair.

I'm not going to tell you how many times I heard "Oh, so you ARE a boy!"

Anyway, after what seemed like forever, I finally reached the table where the guys were and plopped down next to Trowa. I'm not even sure my butt had touched the seat yet, before I started to dig in. For some reason, everyone seemed to find this hilarious.

"Slow down, Duo, your food's not going anywhere," Quat chuckled. I tried to stick my tongue out at him, but my mouth was too full. So, instead, I decided to make a face, and continue to enjoy the delicious food, and whatever was in the mug. That was some darn good stuff, by the way.

Apparently, Shoria didn't like being associated with Raz (or men in general), so she was off somewhere with her friends, but other than her, we were eating with our Temple Heads. For awhile, there was nothing but the not-so-musical sound of food being consumed, and we simply enjoyed one another's presences. It was simple, and quiet.

After awhile, though, things started to get interesting.

It all started when Yoriko and Loeke re-appeared, looking ridiculously happy (jeez, I wonder why), and the little white-haired demon couldn't seem to keep his hands, or any part of his body, off his lover. Fortunately for us, everyone had finished eating, so we could sit back and enjoy the sight of Veda trying to chew them out for being "indecent."

Pretty soon, however, it became apparent that Yori's and Loeke's mood was contagious: Seiren and Taiga were snuggled up together (uninhibited because they were a little drunk), while Quat and T leaned close, and smiled tiny, secretive smiles at one another.

Awww….

_Gag_.

I was also feeling the effects of the wine, enjoying the warm, floaty feeling that it had created. I was also a little frustrated, as up until this point, I still hadn't learned anything about "dangerous" Dakora. He hadn't said anything, hadn't really moved form his spot between Aedeka and Trowa; he actually seemed almost nervous. But, as the sex-vibe spread, Dakora seemed to get more daring. He silently climbed into Aedeka's lap, smirking, and started whispering into his ear. Then, he got a little more daring and began licking and biting that same ear. (Damn, these people were oversexed!) Aedeka grinned and growled encouragingly, wrapping his arms tightly around the smaller demon, who chuckled darkly and got even bolder, his hands disappearing from immediate view.

…And that, apparently, was far too bold for Veda.

"Dakora, you licentious little profligate, stop that!" the blue-haired demon snapped across the table. Dakora looked up and bared razor-sharp teeth, golden eyes narrowed. Yoriko and Loeke snickered, and Aedeka sighed deeply as the little demon began growling.

"The fuck did you just call me?" the redhead demanded hotly twisting around in his lover's embrace. I saw Trowa shoot a rather concerned look in Wufei's direction, to which the Chinese boy answered with a brisk nod. (If you hadn't noticed, brisk is the nature of Wufei. Just in case you hadn't noticed. Cuz I have.)

"Dakora, stop arguing with Veda," Trowa commanded the riled little fox.

"Veda, calm down and leave Dakora alone," Wufei said in a voice that left no room for argument, putting a stern hand on the tall demon's shoulder. Veda scowled at the small fire demon for a moment before sniffing and turning up his perfect nose, clearly finished with the situation.

Dakora, apparently, had no intention of letting Veda have the last word, as it was, (come on, who would?) and growled obstinately in Aedeka's lap. In fact, I think (and was hoping that) he would have gone over and let the blue-haired demon know exactly how he felt, had Aedeka had not whispered something in his ear, and let his hands fall strategically into the boy's lap. Veda snarled, but said nothing, and stayed where he was. Meanwhile, I pouted in my seat.

Dammit, why was everyone hooking up but me!

I glanced over at Heero, and was about to ask him to take a walk, so we could finally have that talk, when Wufei cut me off.

Damn him and his poor timing!

"Well, I'm bored. What is there to do around here, Seiren?" The black-haired boy started a bit, tearing his eyes away from his half-demon boyfriend, and blinked rapidly.

"Hauuh?" he asked, eyes straining to focus. Taiga laughed and hugged the smaller man.

"Sorry, Wufei, he's not at his best right now." The brown-eyed boy muttered something incoherent, burying his face in his lover's shirt. Taiga laughed again, stroking Seiren's silky black hair. "No, you're not, dear. Anyway," he continued, turning back to Wufei, "there's plenty to do, if you're bored with the party, I'd suggest walking around the grounds." He waved an arm around, indicating the land beyond the field we were in. "Anywhere you could want to go is technically on temple grounds. If you'd like, I could show you all to your house, and then you can take your walk." Wufei nodded.

"That sounds good to me, what do you all think?" I thought heck yes! As interesting as this party atmosphere was, I was rearing to see what exactly I was getting into. Quatre nodded, and polished off the rest of his drink. Whoohoo, Quat!

"Yeah, I'm for it, sounds great." Trowa nodded as well, and looked over to Heero.

"Yuy, what do you think?" Heero stood up and looked around.

"Yeah, why not?" He paused, then, "Hey, Taiga?" The half-fox turned.

"Uh-huh?" Heero smiled a tiny smile.

"Are there any hotsprings around here?" The half-demon looked a bit caught off-guard by Heero's question, but nodded and stood as well.

"Well, yeah, there are a few. There's one in particular…" he began, trailing off, casting a questioning eye over at his boyfriend. Seiren seemed to sober up a bit, looking around at us.

"You c'n tell 'em, Taaaiiga, I think they c'n keep a'secret. I trust'um." And with that, he promptly swooned. Raz caught the larger boy before he hit the ground.

"Damn, Tai, why'd you let him drink so much?" The redhead's smirk was sensual, and his wink suggestive.

"Because he'll sober up by the time we get back to the House, and we don't have morning training tomorrow." Raz rolled his eyes, but grinned.

Dear Lord, I was so concerned for these people! …And so jealous!

Taiga laughed again, taking his lover into his own arms, and then turned back to us. "Trowa, could you come here a moment?" T frowned a bit, but obeyed his Temple Head, and walked over to him. Taiga said something that seemed to shock Tro, and they began conferring in low voiced. I tried to eavesdrop a bit before I tuned them out.

Eavesdropping is horribly boring when you can't hear anything.

Yoriko and Loeke stood up and stretched, and I followed suit, yawning widely. Raz chuckled behind me. "Tired already, Duo?" I pretended to wave him away. Pishaw!

"Oh, please, like I'd miss an opportunity to get into another hotspring. With him." I nodded to you-know-who, who was chatting it up with his demon, Wufei, and Veda. Razyo nodded.

"Ah, I see. Well, normally I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get into a hotspring with _you_," he pressed himself snugly against my back and wrapped his arms around me, "but I have a morning training session tomorrow with Urai. I'm _so_ sorry." I laughed and pretended to snuggle into him.

"Oh, no, Raz. And here I was so excited about being nearly naked in front of you again," I pouted. We shared another laugh and separated when Raz was summoned over by Quat, who was admiring the some of the flowers around us. Still smiling, I looked up and found Kyo directly in front of me, with an unbelievably murderous look on his face. The smile melted instantly.

Gulp.

I was fully expecting some sort of assault, verbal or otherwise, and steeled myself for the worst. "Don't."

Meh? I voiced this.

The pale boy took a deep breath, then let it out in an explosive sigh. "I-I said don't, don't do that. Don't joke with him like that." Oh-ho-_ho_, victory! The ice prince does have a heart!

"So you _do_ like Raz, don't you?" I crowed, jabbing a triumphant finger at him. He growled and slapped my hand away.

"I never said that," he snapped too-quickly. I grinned.

"No, but if you don't, why do you have such a problem with him being all over me?" Haha, me and my philosophical questions. The water mage turned his back to me and started to walk towards Quat, Loeke, and Raz.

"Be quiet." Well, fine, then. Snippy bitch.

He placed a gentle hand on the shoulder of the boy that he, supposedly, only had platonic feelings for (ha, platonic my left nut!) and gestured to somewhere across the lawn.

"I'm heading back, Razyo. I'll see you in the morning." Raz blushed and stammered a response. Kyo nodded to him, then to everyone else, and walked away.

"I just don't fuckin' _get_ that guy," I muttered to myself. Taiga surprised me by chuckling and putting a hand on my back, leading me away from the tables.

"Don't worry, Duo, no one does," he said, shaking his head in mock pity. "Poor idiot." He laughed again, then turned and began walking backwards, so he could face the others. "Alright, come on, guys, I'll show you to your house, then, after that, I've explained to Trowa where the spring is, and you can go afterwards, if you still want to." He ditched me to walk next to Seiren, and I slowed down and caught up with Yoriko, who was, surprisingly, walking next to Heero. Yori saw me and grinned widely, elbowing the messy-haired boy next to him. Heero's eyes widened and he colored a bit, then he damn near sprinted over to Tro and 'Fei.

Maybe it wasn't so surprising after all.

"What the hell did you say to him?" I demanded, turning on the demon, fists clenched. I'd be damned if he ruined my soon-to-be-perfect night with his lunacy! Yoriko shrugged.

"Nothing. He was just a little embarrassed that I saw what he had been thinking about." He grinned and suddenly I got a vivid mental picture, one involving Heero, myself, nudity, and copious amounts of steam.

Oh… my….

Yoriko shrugged again, and the little X-rated mind-movie stopped. "I have no _idea_ why…." And with that, he strolled off, leaving me to ponder whether he had just replayed Heero's fantasy, or one of my own.

God, I hated him and his enigmatic…ism.

_That's not a word. And don't try that, you love me, and you know it,_ he purred in my head. I glared over at him, and would have probably chewed the bastard out, had Dakora not popped out of nowhere at that exact moment.

"Hey, Duo! What'cha doin'? You look kinda sad." I jumped, partially because he startled the hell out of me, and partially because he seemed to be back to normal all of a sudden. I glanced questioningly over at Aedeka, who gave me a "what are ya gonna do?"-type shrug, and smiled fondly at his mate.

I looked back down to find that the little fox was now walking backwards, staring at me, waiting for me to answer his question. Oh. "Ah, well, I'm not really doing anything right now, Dakora. I mean, I was contemplating killing Yoriko for a bit, but, you know, I guess I kinda need him." Dakora looked cutely contemplative.

"Yeah, you do. But, you should be real careful about wanting to kill him, Loeke might hurt you if you try to." He nodded sagely and began wandering away, towards Quat and Loeke. "Yep." Uh, okay. I turned to Aedeka, who watched as his lover pounce upon the little white haired demon.

"Um, what the hell the hell was that all about, Aedeka? Is he back to normal?" He chuckled and nodded. Huh. How disappointing.

"For the time being, I suppose he is. Honestly, I was as surprised as you were, his shifts usually last longer than that." He shrugged. "I don't mind, one way or another, which 'phase' he's in, I have fun either way." I rolled my eyes. _Fun_, huh?

Aedeka laughed, ruffled my hair in an obnoxiously older-brother kind of way, and went over to his lover, who had dropped to the back of our little procession, and was now chasing his own tail in a dizzy circle. He was still so damned cute.

Tired of getting abruptly left by everyone, I walked over to Wufei, who was also alone, as Veda seemed to be in the midst of arguing with Yoriko (again).

"What up, 'Fei-cakes?" I called, slapping him sociably on the back. He stumbled (ok, so maybe I was a little heavy-handed…) and glared over at me.

"_When_ are you going to call me by my proper name, Maxwell?" he demanded, ignoring my question. I stared at him pointedly for a moment, lips pursed. Maxwell? Really, now. He caught on and grinned. "Hn." Aw, God, he was turning into back-in-the-day Heero!

"Fine, then, be antisocial if you want to, see if I care." He chuckled at that, and we continued our walk in companionable silence.

It was during this companionable silence that I thought to take note of my surroundings. We had long-since left the festivities on the lawn behind us, and were now coming up on a cluster of bungalows. I walked a little ways over to Razyo and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, is that where we're staying, Raz?" I asked, gesturing in the direction of the large cottages. He nodded, stretched, and yawned.

"Yep. That's actually the one you all are going to be living in, right there." He pointed to an especially large house, and it was then that I noticed that they were all vaguley reminiscent of the Japanese temple-houses Heero loved so much. I smiled at that; it was a gladdening thought, to know that the house might make Heero happy. I looked over at him, and noted the awestruck smile on his face. Yep, gladdening, indeed.

Once we were in front of the door, Seiren spread his arms with a flourish. "Welcome to your new home, gentlemen," he said, smiling. I wondered to myself where his drunken slur went, but then quickly stopped caring.

We walked into the large house/temple thing, and I can honestly say I was impressed. Just inside the door, there were three rooms with three large beds, and we were informed that they were for the demons. Good, that meant that none of us would have to endure listening to their nighttime activities.

Going further into the house, I saw that each room had been set up for each of us individually. The first room we walked through was _so_ for Wufei: the color scheme was white, yellow, and pale blue, the furnishings were elegant and simple, and there were books _everywhere_. Also, there was, for some reason, metal stuff everywhere. Hm.

After that, the room that was intended for Trowa. His color scheme was red, gold, orange, and black, and there was a huge fireplace in the center of it. In addition, there were lots of places to lounge: a loveseat (of which I had no doubt he and Q would be making good use of, in the future), a wide couch, and three large futon-like… things.

"Damn, T, what, do they think you're a cat?" He laughed at this, the shoved me, indicating that I should keep waking, into the room intended for Quat. Q's room was relatively ritzy, his furniture more ornate and elaborate than the previous two rooms (for crying out loud, he had a friggin' water fountain in there!), and in addition to the lavish furniture, there were several large pillows in one corner. Heero whistled appreciatively.

"Wow, Quatre. This looks like one of the rooms in The Mans." (The Mans was our affectionate name for the largest of Q's estates, just in case you were wondering.)

"I know. How on earth did they manage to cater to us like this?" Quatre asked incredulously, looking over at Raz. The Green mage grinned.

"It's maajic," he intoned, wiggling his fingers at us, teasingly. We all got a pretty good laugh at that, and continued on into the bestest room in the entire house: MINE!

"Oh, yeah, baby."

My colors, of course, were green and black, and the furniture was cool: I had a huge canopy bed (hell, yes!) and an enormous couch, and the strangest looking table I'd ever seen. And there were plants _everywhere_! Big plant, little plants, flowers, trees, herbs, fruits, it was crazy! Damn, I was gonna end up getting high from all the pure, unadulterated oxygen these things were going to produce! Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Yoriko shaking his head disdainfully, but I ignored him, as we didn't slow down, and headed into the second best room in the house.

I didn't really have time to dwell on the fact that I was ridiculously excited about the fact that Heero's room was adjacent to mine, because of the shock of his actual room. It was…

"Perfect." I turned around to face Heero, who was grinning widely, taking in his "perfect" new room.

His bed was a simple, yet ridiculously comfortable-looking mat in the corner of the room, while the room itself was even more sparsely furnished than Wufei's: the only other furniture he had was one desk, near his bed, and a chair. On the opposite side of the room, there was a small section of sand. Yep, you heard right, just sand, loose golden sand. Now, I had no idea what purpose it served, but it was there. And, apparently, Heero loved it, so that was good enough for me.

The last room of the house was a living room, of sorts, with two couches, two gigantic pillows, and a long futon. They were arranged in such a manner that no matter where you sat, you could see and be seen by someone sitting in the other chairs. Pretty cool. I nodded appreciatively and looked to the others, who seemed to have the same ideas about our new house as me. I was snapped out of my reverie by Raz, who abruptly clapped his hands together.

"And, so, here you are, in your new home. Don't worry about tomorrow, for your training sessions, someone'll come 'n get you. And, with that having been said, I bid you all goodnight, 'cause I'm fucking sleepy." He smiled, waved, and left, just like that. Taiga and Seiren were right on his heels, waving as well.

"We'll see you all tomorrow," Taiga called, as he walked out into the night. "Our house is actually right over there, if you need us." He pointed to a bungalow about four houses over, across the yard. Seiren growled and grabbed his lover by the tip of one pointed ear.

"Yeah, but if you come over tonight, I just might have to kill you," he said, grinning, as he closed the door behind himself. We all laughed again, then looked dazedly around our new livingroom. Damn, that was weird to say.

"Does anyone still want to go to the spring?" Quat asked as he perched on the edge of one of the couches. I nodded and flopped down onto the pillow at his feet.

"I guess I do. How far away is it, Tro?" My banged friend shrugged.

"Well, it's pretty far, and apparently, there's only one way to get there, and it's… odd." Dakora, in his fox form, cocked his head to the side.

_Odd, Master? Odd how?_ Trowa scratched the side of his head.

"Well, we gotta swim there. There's an underwater channel in one of the lakes in the forest, and it leads to another lake that's the entrance to the cave." Heero frowned.

"Well, honestly, as much as I wanted to go tonight, the walk from the party took longer than I thought, and I'm pretty tired. Why don't we make plans to go tomorrow? We'll probably end up needing a soak anyway, after the training. From what I've heard, it's pretty rough." Wufei nodded.

"I agree with Yuy, that sounds like a better plan. Besides, I'm tired, too." Trowa yawned.

"Damn, I guess I am, too." Beside him, Dakora yawned and stretched out, long black claws clicking on the wooden floor. Loeke smirked, and apparently, the two of them had a mental conversation, because Dakora growled up at the white-haired demon, who laughed and shrugged. Hokay….

I grumbled to myself. Man, I wanted to go to the spring _tonight_! Yoriko laughed and wrapped an arm around me.

_Aw, don't worry about it, Master, you'll get your chance to see the Yuy boy naked soon enough, I promise._ I gulped and swatted his hand away.

"You stop that!" I shouted, flinging myself away from him, lest he decide to send me another mental porno. He laughed in my head.

_I don't need to be near you to do that, Master, you should know that by now._ I sulked.

"Shut up, you perv!." I looked up, and I realized I was getting few funny stares from my friends. Great, now, because of him, they all thought I was crazy!

I stormed over to the door (admittedly, a bit melodramatically), threw it open, stuck my nose in the air, and walked outside. Just before the door closed, I heard Trowa's voice. "Was there caffeine in those drinks? There was, wasn't there?"

Outside on the wide, wrap-around porch, I collapsed onto one of the soft little cushions (this place has a thing for pillows, doesn't it?) and brooded.

As much as I was trying to make the best of this situation, I think that the fact that we were in another world was still freaking me out more than I wanted it to. I sighed and leaned back into the wall.

"Damn," I whispered to myself. This was so fucking hard to accept!

"You'll get used to it," came a lilting voice behind me. I sighed again and turned.

"Yeah? You think so?" Yoriko smiled and nodded, sitting down next to me.

"I know so. You'll see, Master, you'll get used to it." He wrapped what could have construed as a comforting arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to his chest. Hm. Awkward. "Promise." We sat there for a moment before something occurred to me. I turned a little, so I could see him better.

"Why the hell are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" Yoriko smiled.

"Do I need an excuse to dote on you?" he asked, batting his long black eyelashes. I snorted and turned back away.

"Ha, funny." Yoriko took a deep breath and adjusted his position.

"Yeah, well. I guess it's a little upsetting to me as well, I was trying not to like you." I blinked. Hmmm? I punched him in the arm.

"So you like me, huh?" I crowed, grinning maniacally. He growled and shoved me roughly away, then scowled almost petulantly.

"No, I don't. And even if I did, you just ruined the mood, halfwit." I laughed again, and Yoriko smiled, and for awhile, we simply sat there on the porch, looking at the innumerable stars in the sky.

After about ten minutes of tranquil stargazing, though, I heard a rustle in the grass beside us. I jumped (hey, if you were in some sort of creepy alternate world, wouldn't you?) and pressed back against the demon at my side. Yoriko snarled and rose up.

"What the...?" He prowled over to the edge of the porch, and for some reason, his perpetual growling was reassuring, as was the reappearance of his tail and wings. He chuckled as he stalked closer to the edge of the porch. "Ah, so I'm growing on you after all, is it?" I was honestly too worried about what could be in the grass to think up a retort. We reached the railing of the porch, and I put two hands on Yoriko's shoulders.

"Hey! Hey, who's there?" I called, peering around his left arm. I sensed him rolling his eyes.

"Effective," he said drolly, leaning over the edge of the railing. The tip of his tail was lashing back and forth behind him, like that of a frustrated kitten.

_Kitten?_ he snarled, outraged, in my head. He probably would have gone off on a tirade, had something not suddenly wrapped itself around his neck and pulled. He hissed loudly and shoved me brutally backwards, even he staggered towards the tentacle-like vine around his throat. "You…."

And, as much as I wanted to run screaming back into the house, I was no coward, dammit.

Really, I wasn't.

"Yoriko!" I shouted, climbing (gingerly) back to my feet. I started towards him, but he snarled and glared back at me.

"Stay back, you little idiot! The fuck kinda sense does it make for me to save your sorry ass if you come back into thi-ack!" The vine around his neck tightened perceptibly, and he changed his focus back to the thing assaulting it. "Damn it," he choked out. I scowled darkly, threw myself over the railing, and hit the ground running. Yoriko made an agonizingly frustrated sound. "You'd sure as fuck better be glad I can't kill you, weed," he gargled. Unsure of what that meant (and exactly what I was going to do when I got to the thing that was assaulting Yoriko…), I approached the cluster of bushes cautiously. However, when I got there, I was confronted by the sight of-

"Sukibera!"

The plant demon looked up, startled, and quickly released Yoriko. I stormed over to him… it…, my fist clenched into fists. What the fuck, man? I thought he/it was on our side!

"Sukibera, what the _hell_ do you think you're doing? You attacked my demon!" The plant hung its head in shame as I rounded on it.

"Sukibera is… sorry." He shuffled around a bit. "Sorry." Yoriko hissed loudly and jumped over the railing, landing between me and the plant.

"Sorry my _ass_, you lousy shit!" he spat viciously. "What the fuck were you thinking?" Sukibera seemed to get bigger, and from my position behind Yoriko, I heard him growl.

"None of business, demon," he threw back, vines writhing menacingly. "You nasty demon." Yoriko hissed louder and took a step forward. Oh, man, this was getting heavy.

"Nasty? The fuck? Where do _you_ get off calling _me_ nasty, dirt-boy? And why the fuck were you even here?" my demon asked acidly. Sukibera looked away.

"See Master Duo. Came see Master Duo. Miss him." His leaves drooped a bit, and I felt vaguely guilty. Oh, no, I hurt his feelings… then again, though, he did just assault Yoriko…. Suddenly, though, the leaves bristled, much like a dog raising its hackles. "Then you here, demon. Not supposed to be here. Bad. I protect him." Yoriko tossed his head and laughed.

"Ah, okay, yeah, right. You were protecting him from me, while I was protecting him from you? You're insane, and we're going back in. You're supposed to be protecting your own Master, aren't you?" Sukibera shuffled guiltily again, then turned away.

"Goodbye, Master Duo. Will see tomorrow." I nodded stupidly, still trying to comprehend what the hell had just happened.

"Uh, yeah, okay, see you tomorrow, then." He grinned (still so damn creepy to see a plant smile, man) and shambled away, into the darkness.

I stood there, rooted in my spot for a moment, until Yoriko snapped me out of it with a snort. "Stupid spirit demon," he groused, rubbing his neck ruefully. I shook my head.

"So, you can't kill him? Why? What was that even about, man?" I asked as we headed back onto the porch. Yoriko laughed dryly.

"No, I can't, demons aren't allowed to kill guiding spirits, it's against _'the law'_. Unfortunately." He smirked. "And in regards to your second question, he's jealous of me because he likes you." What? "Sexually."

_WHAT?_

"The hell?" I demanded, rounding on him. He shrugged as though it was no big deal, but the obnoxious grin on his face gave him away.

"You heard me, Master, he likes you, he wants you, it's as simple as that." He chuckled again. "I guess it's a lot easier to accept a demon's advances, when it looks like me, huh?" He draped himself on my back and kissed my neck. I shook him off and opened the door, to see that all the lights had been dimmed or turned off. So everyone was asleep, then. Huh.

"Get off me, you friggin' lech. Why don't you go do this to Loeke?" Another chuckle.

"You know what, Master? I think I will. Goodnight," he called back over his shoulder, walking into the bedroom intended for his lover and himself. I snorted.

"'Night." I sighed. I went down the hall, into my room, stripped off my clothes (I swear, I was burning that skirt in T's fireplace in the morning), and picked out a pair of pajama pants and a tank top (at least those clothes were normal). I then went back into the livingroom and sprawled out on the arm of the couch Quatre had been on, arm over my eyes. Damn, this place was just too much! Suddenly, there was a soft laugh behind me, and I bolted upright.

"You know, that's what your bed is for, Duo," Heero chided as he sat down next to me. I tried to hide the fact that I noticed how very delicious he looked it pajama pants and nothing else, and smirked wryly.

"Yeah, well, this couch is just as comfortable as any bed I've ever been in." Heero shook his head.

"I dunno, Duo, according to Quatre, your bed is the most comfortable one in the entire house." He continued before I got the chance to ask him just _how_ exactly Q knew what my bed felt like. "He decided to 'test' all our beds for us. Apparently, yours is first, then his, then Tro's, then mine, and then Wufei's." I grinned lecherously.

"So, Trowa's is pretty comfy, huh? Wonder how often he'll end up in there, then." Heero laughed and leaned back into the couch, and, coincidentally, into my side.

"You're horrible, Maxwell, but I can imagine you might be right." The, out of the blue, "We had fun today, didn't we?" he asked. A tad thrown off by the sudden question, I nodded.

"Yeah. Man, I'm still freaked, though. I mean, think about it, if you go on 'Fei's accusation, in a roundabout way, I brought us into another world." He chuckled.

"I suppose. So, in that case, if you really think about it, in a roundabout way, you could consider this our first date, then, since you brought me here." I snorted and continued to smile at him, but suddenly, I remembered something that struck me as a bit infuriating.

I face-faulted and turned away from him, then scowled a little. …That rat.

Heero, being who he was, sensed the change immediately. "Duo," he called, sounding a little concerned. He leaned over a bit, and got in my face. "Are you okay?"

I grimaced. Well, there was no sense in trying to hide it, now, was, there? I huffed. "What, did you forget, Heero?" He looked confused for a moment, and I was about to elaborate, when he smiled, a genuine, beautiful smile. Ooohhh….

"No, Duo, I didn't forget, I was waiting up for you." He leaned in closer to my face and I swear, I could have melted right then and there. Dear God, and this was _really_ happening! His smile widened, and he was so close to be, our noses were almost touching. "I didn't forget, okay?" he whispered softly, taking my chin into his hand. His gorgeous blue eyes were half-lidded, and questing. "I didn't…." He leaned in even closer, parted his lips, and closed his eyes completely. I put out a hand and stopped him.

_**(CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?)**_

Heero blinked confusion and sat back a little.

"Duo?" he asked, unsure of himself. I sighed deeply and slipped lower onto the couch, next to him. "Duo, what is it, is something wrong?" I cleared my throat and shifted nervously. How to say this….

"Heero… I…." He stared imploringly at me. (And yes, believe it or not, Heero was staring imploringly. It must've been the wine….)

"What, what is it?" I looked down guiltily.

"I… Heero, I don't kiss on the first date." Heero stood there for a moment, seemingly shocked, then frowned.

"The hell you don't." And with that, he grabbed me by the base of my braid and kissed me soundly.

Oh, wow.

I wanted to pinch myself, just to see if I was dreaming or not, but at the same time, I didn't want to move. It was interesting, to me, how fantasy and reality were both similar and different at the same time. Like in my fantasies, Heero was aggressive, and a little rough. He had me smashed against the arm of the couch, and was almost fully draped over me, our chests and stomachs were touching, his left knee pressed firmly between my legs (_that_ was hot). His lips were fervent and sweet, his tongue was demanding and hot.

There was no fantasy I've ever had, though, that could have prepared me for what the real Heero felt like. He'd made me drunk with pleasure, and I couldn't get enough of him: my hands, my legs, my mouth, my chest, I couldn't touch him enough. He shifted slightly and I gasped.

I wondered vaguely if it were possible to die of pleasure.

We probably would have gone on like that for hours, had there not been a sudden loud thump, and an even louder exclamation from one of the bedrooms. Heero and I jumped and looked towards the door from which the sound had come. There was a quiet, breathless giggle, then a shushing noise.

"Sorry, Master," Aedeka called. From the sound of it, he was trying to suppress laughter himself. I blushed a little, at the thought of the fact that Aedeka and Dakora knew what was going on. Ah, well, it's not as if it weren't glaringly obvious what they were doing in their room.

Heero snickered and buried his face in the side of my neck. Oh, that was nice…. "Well, now that our mood's been ruined once again, I guess now would be just as good a time as any to end the night on, huh?" I grinned and looked up at the ceiling… which was really the only place I could look, considering my position.

"I guess so. Although, you know, we never did talk." Heero laughed again, and dropped a gentle kiss on my throat.

"Do you really think we need to?" he whispered, sitting up. (And as much as I loved him on top of me, I was surprised at how much easier I could breathe once he sat up.) I shook my head.

"I guess not, unless this was just another drunken make-out session." Heero made a face.

"Another? When did we ever have a first." I thought about bringing up the incident on Q's yacht, but decided against it. He once again took my face in his hands. "It wasn't a drunken make-out session, Duo, I swear, I'd never do that. I really do like you. I-I like you a lot, and I guess I wanted to tell you, I just didn't. I-" I put a finger over his lips. Jeez, for someone who was generally the most tight-lipped, he sure was singing like a canary now. …Although the admission was indescribably endearing.

"Shut up, Yuy, I get it. And I like you, too… but you already knew that, didn't you?" He nodded, grinned, and kissed me lightly on the lips. Ah, heaven.

"Yes, I did." He kissed me again, and stood. "Sleepy?" I smiled and shook my head, but the yawn that escaped from my mouth proclaimed me a liar. Heero helped me onto my feet, and then hugged me close. "Liar." I shook my head again and hugged back.

"I'm not lying." Uh-huh. "Sure, I could go to sleep, if I went to bed." I looked up at him and tried not to blush. "But I'd stay up forever if you were up with me." Heero laughed and began leading me through the house.

"Now I know you're sleepy, you're spewing sap." …This was true. I usually only said stuff like that in my head.

We walked slowly through the house, holding one another, and despite all that happened, I couldn't really believe it: I couldn't really believe that Heero liked me, that we kissed (mmmmm), that we were now "together." There was no crazy labyrinth I had to get through, no tests, no tricks, nothing! It had been easy. I was honestly half-expecting this to be some big cosmic joke.

We stopped in front of my door, and the expected long awkward pause ensued.

Unsurprisingly, I was the one who broke the silence. "Ah, so, I guess I'll go find out just how comfy my bed is, eh?" Heero nodded and scratched his head.

"Yeah." Ah, so we were back to monosyllabic answers. Great.

"Y-yeah." He nodded slowly, and I bit my lip. And we continued this rather circuitous sequence for a full minute before we both broke into nervous laughter. How ridiculous were we?

"Ah, so, well, ah, g'night, then, Heero." I went into my room and then turned around to face him. He smiled warmly, and I nearly died.

"Goodnight, Duo." He leaned in, and I leaned in, and you can guess what happened when we got close enough.

"Mmm," I purred as we broke apart. Heero dropped one last peck on my lips, smirking.

"I agree," he whispered. He straightened up and sighed. "Well, goodnight for real, this time." He gave me a parting smile, and walked away.

I groaned loudly, went into my (wicked-awesome) new room, and shut the door behind myself. I began running, and with a tribal yell, launched myself through the curtains draped over the canopy, and into the bed. Quat was right, it was insanely comfortable, and I tried to go to sleep, but I ended up flopping around, trying to gather my thoughts.

But, as usual, my thoughts refused to be gathered, and I ended up sitting up in bed, staring into blank space. Ah, blank space.

Well, as you know, blank space is only so interesting (I _hate_ blank space), and so I decided to take a walk around the house. I went and sat in the ginourmous livingroom for a bit, but, again, there wasn't much to do there but play with my toes, and stare into blank space. And you know how I feel about blank space.

I growled in frustration at my sudden insomnia, and paced back towards my room. However, for some reason, I got to my door, and my feet kept going. I suppose it really shouldn't have come as any surprise that I ended up in front of Heero's door, I loved to see him sleeping. It was a surprise, though, when it opened.

"Yes?" There was a bemused look on Heero's face as he stood there, leaning in the doorframe. Oops…

"Ah, hey. Sorry, I couldn't sleep and I was just, kinda, you know, looking around. You heard me?" He laughed quietly.

"I'm surprised no one else did," he chortled. I rubbed my arm guiltily.

"Sorry, man, I didn't mean to wake you up.?" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"You didn't, I couldn't sleep either."

"Why?" A dumb question to ask, granted, but I really wanted to know. He snorted self-deprecatingly.

"I… well, I…" His eyes locked onto mine. "I was thinking about you." (Well, now, that's no reason to snort self-deprecatingly at yourself, now is it?)

"Well, in all honesty, I couldn't sleep 'cause I was thinking about you, too." I felt a little cheesy saying it, but at least I didn't say it first, right? Heero chuckled again.

"Surely, princess, a bed like yours would mask the discomfort of something so trivial as thoughts of me?" Thrilled with his fairy-tale reference (who the hell knew Heero Yuy even _knew_ any fairy-tales?), I ran with it.

"Oh, I dunno, you'd be surprised, the bed's not _that_ comfortable. I mean sure, maybe if it were just any old pea, I'd be able to ignore it, but you're a different _kind_ of pea, Mr. Yuy, a big one." Heero furrowed his brow.

"Oh, so I'm a pea now?" I stuck my tongue out at him, a little frustrated that he noticed I switched metaphors (hey, you try talking about the Princess and the Pea, and see how far you get when you turn the pea into a thought!), but he continued. "I mean, in a bed like that, you could probably sleep on top of anything and not notice." I shook my head (but liked where this was headed).

"No, Yuy, I'm pretty sure that I'd notice if I were sleeping on you. Besides, how do you know what my bed feels like?" He shrugged.

"I don't, but-" I cut him off by putting out my hand.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't you go making assumptions about my bed, which you know nothing about." He shrugged again, then started off down the hall. I knew where he was going, and what he was doing, but I felt the need to ask anyway. "Where the heck're you going, Yuy?"

"To find out just how comfortable your bed actually is. Maybe I really don't know anything about it, Quatre does have a tendency to over-exaggerate a little." He opened the door to my room, went inside, and jumped (yes, ladies and gentlemen, jumped) onto my bed.

I walked in the room and stopped just short of the foot of the bed. _Damn_ but Heero looked good surrounded by plant life, on green satin (I guess it was called satin here) sheets. _MY_ green satin sheets. In my bed. I grinned. "Well, what do you think? I told you, you'd be able to tell if there was a pea under there, wouldn't you?" Heero abruptly frowned. "What is it?" I asked as I walked closer to the bed. He shook his head, frown deepening.

"The hell is this?" he queried, running his hand over one side of my bed. Oh, man, what was wrong?

I leaned over and re-traced the little shiny path his hand had made. "What, what, what is it, what's wrong with my-" Suddenly, he grabbed my arm and yanked me into the bed, dropping me unceremoniously next to him. I gawked. Of all the…. "You lousy-mmfff?" Was all I got out before he pounced one me, lips glued to mine.

Ah, bliss.

The kiss only lasted a few minutes, and we didn't do anything other than kiss (I _swear_!), but when we broke apart, we were both panting raggedly. I chuckled and snuggled up close to his side. "So, you wanna stay here tonight?" I realized how utterly forward that sounded, and quickly amended my statement. "Shit, I mean, do you want to sleep with me tonight?" …Better. "Fuck! I mean, no! Not fuck! Just sleep! Damn it, I was, ah, I'm trying to ask you, I mean, if you want to-" Heero laughed.

"Yeah, Duo, I'll sleep in here tonight, I'd like that." I let out a relieved breath, and burrowed closer to him, only to realize that the candle that had been light on the little table next to my bed was still lit. Damn stupid light. I grumbled, leaned over and blew it out, and then curled back up. Heero began stroking my hair, and I swear, I would have willingly died right then and there, a happy man.

We stayed like that for quite some time, and before too long, I was truly sleepy. I had assumed Heero was already asleep, as the hand on my head had long since stilled, but just as I was about to drift off to sleep, he sighed.

"I think you're right, Duo. There's no way I wouldn't notice you underneath me." He must have thought I was asleep, because he jumped when I giggled.

"Oh, jeez, who's spewing sap, now, sleepyhead?" I chided. He smiled and nuzzled my face, much like a content housecat.

My Hee-kitten.

Yawning widely, I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Hopefully, I won't be a distraction to you while you're trying to sleep. I'd hate to keep you up all night, or anything." My only answer was a light snore. I chuckled to myself and closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of him, loving the strength I sensed beneath his skin. God, he was perfect.

Simply perfect.

I fell asleep, and, for the first time in years, I felt safe enough to dream.

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­Okay, and there it is, Chapter 7, done. Just so you know, I don't like it, something's weird… bah, whatever, I'll revise it soon. Hopefully, the next chapter won't take me 50 years to finish, and it'll be better than this one. Oh, and, thanks to Nevair, for the idea that sparked the Sukibera/Duo/Yoriko action, it'll be interesting to see how that ends up unfolding. Again, guys, thanks for staying with me, and please let me know what you think of the story so far!

-D4D


	8. OK, So!

OK, so , Chapter 1 has been edited and revised, and I have started working on Chapter 8, which will HOPEFULLY be up by the end on this month. After I've finished Chapter 8, I will be going through and editing the rest of the chapters. Also, I've had a few offers, so if anyone is interested in Beta-Reading, let me know (I realize I get a little too excited when I'm typing sometimes, and there are quite a few errors). Thanks for sticking with me guys, I know you're sick of waiting!

-Arya


	9. Author's Apology

Wow. Guys, I can't even begin to tell you all how sorry I am for the delays I've had with this story. I applied to attend a school overseas, and miraculously, they accepted me. Yay. The only problem was that I have had to balance out my college's summer session, my Resident Assistant position, and working full-time to pay for the tuition for the school in France. I really am sorry guys, I feel really bad that all of a sudden this story has had to take a backseat to everything, but sometimes it happens. I won't put a definitive date on when the next chapter will be up, but I SWEAR I haven't abandoned this story, and I'll get back to as soon as humanly possible. Thank you all for being so patient!

- Arya


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